Mario and Sonic
by Super Hyper Mario 128 III
Summary: When Mario and Luigi investigate the mysterious kidnappings on Yoshi's Island, they weren't expecting it to result in the greatest adventure for TWO worlds...
1. Two Heroes

_Have you heard the legend?  
  
It's a legend that was passed down through generations of both Toads and Mobians alike.  
  
The legend said that the world they knew was only half of the entire world, the other half left unknown.  
  
But the legend also said that, when worthy heroes from both worlds arise, the worlds would soon become one.  
  
However, this was thought to be only a story, and not real. So, soon the legend was forgotten by time. And only then, did the legend become real...  
_  
Sweat poured down Mario's face as he looked at his menacing opponent: A giant purple demon with her heart clearly exposed. He then turned and looked at his brother, Luigi, who looked scared to death. They had gone through a long adventure in a land where laughter was valued above all else, but there was little funny now. Having been "defeated" once, the monster, who called itself Bowletta, had swallowed them whole, resulting in an intense battle against the heart of the beast, called Cackletta.  
  
With his hammer clenched tightly in this fist, Mario signaled to his brother, who knew what he was implying and ran up in front of Mario.  
  
"CHOPPER BROS!!!" Mario cried as he hammered Luigi into the ground. Luigi quickly dug through the ground and under Cackletta and then jumped up, punched the heart, and was quickly hammered back down by Mario in order to repeat the process. However, it wasn't necessary, for the demon had exploded into a cloud of smoke, forcing Mario and Luigi straight out of the monster's gullet. After being vomited back out, the brothers watched as the evil spirit rose out of Bowletta, transforming it back into it's original form: Bowser, King of the Koopas. The brothers had little time to relax, however, since Bowser would not be happy finding his archrivals, the Mario Brothers, inside his castle. As they turned to leave, Prince Peasly of the Beanbean Kingdom, who had aided them though out their journey, walked into the throne room.  
  
"Cheers to the Mario Brothers!" he cried, "But we have little time to celebrate. I have set a bomb inside this castle, so we need to escape quickly!"  
  
Mario stood there, shocked, while Luigi completely freaked out. Franticly, Mario grabbed Luigi by the hand and raced as fast as they could out of the castle, followed by Prince Peasly. The trio cleared the castle just in time to watch it explode from a safe place.  
  
There was a moment of silence before anyone spoke.  
  
"Well Luigi," Mario sighed, still very nervous, "What do you say about taking a nice, long, vacation on Island Delfineo?"  
  
Luigi just stood there for a second, then fell over like a narcoleptic.

----------------------------  
  
"GIVE UP, PATHETIC CREATURES! THE WORLD WILL SOON REALIZE THAT I AM THEIR MASTER!"  
  
Sonic the Hedgehog... er, sorry... Super Sonic the Hedgehog, since he had powered himself up with the seven Chaos Emeralds, zoomed over to the giant robot modeled after himself and tried to attack it but alas, not even Super Sonic could damage the monster. After he was knocked back, his friends, Miles "Tails" Prower and Knuckles the Echidna came up to him and helped him up.  
  
"Dang it!" Sonic screamed, "Why does Eggman's strongest robots always get so out of control, not even he can stop them?"  
  
"He's a mad scientist," Knuckles answered, "Do you think he learns from experience?"  
  
"I think the only way to beat Metal Sonic is to use our team blast!" cried Tails.  
  
Sonic moaned. He was glad they wanted to help, but he really wanted to take his robotic copy down himself. After taking a moment getting over his ego, he replied, "Alright, alright. After all, we went through this whole adventure as a team, why not finish it as one?"  
  
Soon, a glowing aura appeared around all three of them. And when Sonic yelled "SUPER SONIC OVERDRIVE!!!" they all charged at Metal Sonic.  
  
The plan worked. They shot straight through Metal like a bullet. Before long, Metal exploded into a million pieces. All that was left in the middle of the rubble was a robot about Sonic's size, lying face down.  
  
"If you ever want a rematch," Sonic said, while powering down to his normal, blue self, "just give me a call."  
  
And with that, the three of them ran off, leaving Metal Sonic and a really angry Dr. Eggman behind.


	2. Eggman's Plan

"I CAN'T BELIEVE I LOST TO THAT ROTTEN RODENT AGAIN!!!" Eggman screamed throwing random electronic whatzits across his lab, "THAT MUST HAVE BEEN THE MILLIONTH TIME!!!"  
  
"Actually," muttered Scratch, one of Eggman's more free-willed robots who looked like a chicken, "That was the fortieth, it's in my memory bank."  
  
Eggman immediately grabbed Scratch by the neck and yelled right into his ear, "I WASN'T ASKING FOR AN ACTUAL COUNT, YOU NITWIT!!! NOW, ARE YOU GOING TO HELP ME FIGURE OUT HOW TO BEAT SONIC OR SHOULD I THROW YOU IN THE RECYCLE!?"  
  
"Umm... Maybe you should find someplace were Sonic would never find you." Scratch suggested, which was hard considering he was being strangled by his master.  
  
"And, would you mind telling me WHERE?"  
  
"Uhh... The opposite side of the planet? You know, the Space Colony ARK did take pictures that prove that there's undiscovered land over there..."  
  
Eggman stood there for a moment, pondering, before once again yelling at his subordinate, "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THIS EARLIER!?"  
  
"Err... You didn't ask?"  
  
"Oh... Never mind!" Eggman muttered while rushing out a door with the sign "Egg Carrier Loading Dock" printed in bold letters over it, "Get packing. We're taking a little field trip!" 


	3. The First Encounter

The sun beamed down on the golf green, making it unbearably hot. It really wouldn't have been so bad for Mario's foursome if they were actually playing. But thanks to the foursome ahead of them, they were stuck in a perpetual standstill.  
  
"Would ya hurry up!?" whined Waluigi, leaning on his four iron, "I wanna end this hole, I've already got a double boogey!"  
  
"Hey, chill man," Jimmy quipped, "It's harder to sink a shot in real life than in my microgame, ya dig? Besides, methinks my eagle is a little more important than your double boogey."  
  
Waluigi stormed off, looking for a little sympathy, but all he got was Mona, who was too deeply engrossed in the current issue of Diamond City Teens to care about Waluigi's problems. With nowhere else to turn to, he went and yelled at his "brother", Wario.  
  
"Why on earth did you invite those two clowns, Wario!?"  
  
"Well, 9-Volt is too busy playing Nintendo, Spiz is too short to even hold a club properly, Kat and Ana are at ninja school..."  
  
"I mean why can't we play by ourselves!"  
  
"This is how I can avoid paying them, by offering free rounds of golf."  
  
While the "Wario Bros." Were yelling at each other, Mario sat on a nearby bench with Luigi, Peach, and Yoshi. Looking at his watch, Mario guessed that at least half an hour had passed since he last picked up his club. Not only that, he was getting hungry.  
  
"Hey, Yoshi," Mario asked, "Would you mind going back to the clubhouse and getting us some grub?"  
  
"Yoshi?"  
  
"I'm asking you because you have the highest score and you know the rules..."  
  
Yoshi grumbled as he got up and marched back to the clubhouse, which was at least two miles away. But he figured that, thanks to Wario's foursome, he wouldn't miss anything.  
  
Reaching the clubhouse was rather uneventful, except for hearing Waluigi scream from half a mile away after he got a triple boogey. When he got the "grub" and left, however, something weird happened. As he began his two- mile trek back, he thought he heard something from behind some bushes. When he took a peek, he saw what looked kinda like a flying saucer, but with a giant camera lens sticking out it's front. When it saw Yoshi, it freaked out (or as close as it could get to freaking out) and flew away. Yoshi was a little confused, but decided to just go back to Mario and not give it a second thought.  
  
Meanwhile, aboard the Egg Carrier, Eggman was watching everything that had happened on his big screen TV.  
  
"Now that's a stroke of luck!" Eggman declared.  
  
"What do you mean?" asked Scratch, who was busy oiling his neck after Eggman had nearly suffocated him.  
  
"Not only does this world look completely ignorant of my amazing intellect, but it has animals that are practically asking to be roboticized!"  
  
"I didn't hear him ask that, he just said, 'Yoshi!' a lot."  
  
"Don't make me remove your free will, tin head."  
  
"Well, you asked," muttered Scratch as he went off to oil his neck again.  
  
"Soon, I will have this world under my control," Eggman began, "and soon, I will have an army so big, NOT EVEN SONIC THE HEDGEHOG WILL BE ABLE TO STOP ME!!! MUA HA HA HA HA!!!" 


	4. WE ARE SCREWED!

Bowser was furious. It was bad enough that he got possessed by Cackletta and was turned into a woman. It was even worse when Peasley stuffed him in a box and offered him as a "gift" to the Mario Bros., resulting in him having to throw himself out of an airplane in attempt to escape. But the worst part was when, expecting some sympathy from his offspring, the Koopalings, all he got was a busload of "jokes" about the Bowletta incident. After taking enough abuse from the "I guess that's where we came from" gags, he stormed up to his room. Once there, he was busy stuffing as many freezies into an ice bag as he could to cure his throbbing head, when his main advisor and magician, Kamek, walked in.  
  
"About time you got up here," Bowser moaned, "Did you finally get those Koopalings to..."  
  
Bowser stopped when he realized that Kamek looked very worried. He wasn't here to tell him that he shut the Koopalings up.  
  
"Um... Ya got something to tell me?"  
  
"..."  
  
"Uh... Kamek?"  
  
"..."  
  
"Kamek?"  
  
"... WE'RE REALLY SCREWED!!!"  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"IJUSTHADAVISIONANDINITAFREAKYFATOLDGUYTRYTOTAKEOVERTHEMUSHROOMKINGDOM!!!"  
  
"Ack! Slowly, Kamek! Slowly!"  
  
"...pant, pant... I just had a vision..."  
  
"Yeah, I made out that much."  
  
"In it a fat guy tried to take our job."  
  
"What? Mario is going to kidnap Peach?"  
  
"NO! NO! Not that fat guy! Some other guy with a whole lot of robots will try to take over this world!"  
  
"Eh? Is he gonna succeed?"  
  
"I can't tell."  
  
"Well then, what are we sitting around for?" Bowser asked, while throwing his ice bag out a window, "Lets go kick his butt! Can't let anyone else take my job!"  
  
"Um... I have a better idea."  
  
"WHAT!?"  
  
"If we let this guy cause some mayhem," Kamek explained, "We can then try to take over the Mushroom Kingdom while they're all worried about that guy."  
  
"You're a genius!" Bowser declared, sitting back down on his throne, "Remind me to promote you once I have the Mushroom Kingdom under my control!"  
  
Kamek was really excited until he remembered he already had the highest position in the Koopa Klan. 


	5. Mario's Next Mission

It had been a few days since Mario's golf match and he was bored. Sitting around in his house all day really wasn't Mario's definition of the word "fun", but he knew it could be worse. It was better than having to risk your neck out there to save the world, right?  
  
Wrong.  
  
Mario liked an adventure. It was his form of entertainment. Where most of us might watch TV or read a book, Mario had fun by going out somewhere and having an adventure. But, with Bowser still recovering from their Beanbean adventure. Mario had nothing to do but sit at home and munch on some mushrooms and sip Kerokero Cola while watching the news.  
  
However, Mario knew something was up. When he saw Bowser outside his castle fixing his Koopa Cruiser, for instance, Mario could tell Bowser was excited about something, he just didn't know what. That, on top of the fact Yoshi acted weird ever since he got their "grub" at the golf match, made Mario sure some sort of adventure was just around the corner. Mario's suspicion was confirmed when an interesting news report appeared on the TV.  
  
"I'm here at Yoshi's Island," began the toad reporter, "In response to the mysterious 'Yoshi Kidnappings' that are happening."  
  
"According to reports, it appears that whenever yoshis go out on their own, like when to get fruit, they don't come back. The Royal Guard stationed at Yoshi's Island advise that yoshis always go anywhere in pairs until the kidnappings are solved. This is Tayce T., signing off."  
  
"Huh?" Mario grumbled, "I thought Tayce T. was a cook, not a reporter. I guess she needed some extra cash or something. And what's this about those yoshi kidnappings?"  
  
Mario had just finished asking himself that question when the phone rang. When Mario answered it, the caller turned out to be none other than Princess Peach.  
  
"Hello, Mario," Peach began, "Have you seen the news lately?"  
  
"Um... You mean about the yoshi kidnappings? Yeah, I just saw it."  
  
"I was wondering if you could go over to Yoshi's Island and help the Royal Guard in this case."  
  
Mario thought for a moment. Another adventure already? How could he pass this up?  
  
"S-S-Sure Peach. I'll help them."  
  
"Thanks. Would you mind asking Luigi over, too? He proved helpful in the Beanbean quest so he might prove helpful again."

--------------------------

After convincing Luigi to leave the comforts of his mansion, they were on their way to Yoshi's Island, Luigi whining all the way. When they got there, they were surprised to see their old friend, Professor Elvin Gadd.  
  
"Ah, my favorite students. Are you here to hear my lecture on Yoshi biology?"  
  
"Um..." Luigi stuttered, not wanting to hear another one of Gadd's lectures, "We're here to investigate the yoshi kidnappings."  
  
"Oh. Well then, why don't you come in my lab? I've got some stuff that may help you."  
  
The inside of Gadd's "Portable Lab" was impressive. The walls were partially lined with computers and the tables were filled with inventions galore. Gadd marched over to one pair of tiny gadgets that looked like a contact lens and a hearing aid.  
  
"These are my 'Spy Gadgets' and I'm quite proud of them. By simply wearing them they allow the 'spy' to broadcast the sight and sound back to his HQ. Problem is, whoever is doing the kidnapping is only kidnapping yoshis, so we can't just send any spy in."  
  
Luigi was pondering what to do, since yoshis weren't the best "spies" around, while Mario approached a glass case on the far side of the lab. In it were seven wands, each a different color. Mario poked his hand in and pulled out the green one. Luigi noticed it immediately.  
  
"Hey! That's one of Bowser's magic wands!"  
  
Mario just nodded.  
  
"And that one is the one that... turns people... in... to... yo... shis..."  
  
Slowly, Mario approached Luigi.  
  
"Aw... Crud..." 


	6. Luigi the Yoshi

Just outside Yoshi Village on Yoshi's Island was a forbidding forest. It was so eerie that one could wonder why the yoshis even went into the forest in the first place. However, the forest was full of yummy fruits, which was probably the explanation. At any rate, one of the berry bushes in the forest suddenly shook, and out popped a green yoshi wearing a cap with a "L" on it. Suddenly, some device in its ear turned on.  
  
"Um, Luigi? You forgot to take your cap off," the device said.  
  
"Mario," whined the yosh... I mean, Luigi, "It's bad enough you turned me into a yoshi. Then you dumped me in this forest so I could get kidnapped. And now you want me to take off the one thing that is keeping me sane?"  
  
"Luigi, it's a cap."  
  
"It's my safety blanket!"  
  
"JUST TAKE THE CAP OFF!!!"  
  
"Alright! Geez..." Luigi mumbled as he swallowed his cap, knowing how yoshis used that technique to help transport objects.  
  
While all this was happening, something hidden in the shadows was watching. It was hard to tell what it was, but since its eyes seemed to be glowing, it was either a demon or a robot. A weird clanking noise conformed it was a robot as it pulled something out of its side and aimed it at Luigi.  
  
Luigi didn't stand a chance. By the time he stopped moaning about his cap and realized he was being watched, the robot shot at him. Luigi immediately expected to meet his maker, but was in for a shock when he found himself trapped in a net. The robot then stood in full view as it went to grab Luigi and boy, did it freak Luigi out.  
  
The robot had a dome head connected directly to his large body. Its arms and legs were extremely skinny in comparison to his body, however. On its side was printed one word which, Luigi assumed, was the kidnapper's name: EGGROBO.  
  
As Eggrobo dragged Luigi through the forest, Luigi wallowed in self-pitty.  
  
"Why did I let myself get talked into this?" Luigi began, "I should have just stayed home at my mansion. Instead, now I'm a yoshi being dragged to God-knows-where by a freaky robot! Why me..."  
  
"REQUESTING SPECIMEN TO SHUT-UP," the robot replied.  
  
"Oh, now I'm being talked back to by the robot! My day is just going so well, isn't..."  
  
Luigi didn't get a chance to finish before he saw the horror that was before him. Hovering over Soda Lake was a huge sphere that looked like a giant super computer. The only thing that kept it from floating into space was the giant chains that held it in place. As Luigi gawked at the site, Eggrobo signaled to the sphere and, much to Luigi's dismay, he was teleported inside.  
  
The inside was even worse. Machinery lined the hallways and Luigi was dragged through what looked like a tour of some twisted factory. Giant crushers... electric flooring... Luigi felt like this was a high-tech Bowser's Castle. But the biggest shock came after all of this, when Luigi was thrown in a cell with at least a dozen other yoshis!  
  
"I hope you're getting all of this, Mario," Luigi muttered as he tapped his contact lens camera to make sure it was working.  
  
Luigi tried to calm the other yoshis down by telling them that he would find a way to help them, even though he didn't know how. After a couple of minutes of this, the yoshis suddenly went quiet. Luigi was confused until he realized that someone was looking into the cell!  
  
"So, you're the new one who talks, eh?" the person began, "Well then, say hello to your new master, Doctor Ivo Robotnik!" 


	7. The Yoshitron 5000

Once again, Luigi found himself getting dragged through the demonic facility (which, Luigi found out from the maps hung all over the place, was called the "Death Egg") and this time, another yoshi, a red one, was being dragged with him. After negotiating some more hallways, Luigi found himself dragged into a room with a giant clear cylinder in the center, like some kind of test tube. He was pondering what it was until Robotnik (or Eggman, but Luigi didn't know about Robotnik's nickname) not-so-kindly answered for him.  
  
"This is my ultimate invention," Robotnik stated, "the Roboticizer. Allow me to show you how it works."  
  
Robotnik then threw the unfortunate red yoshi in the Roboticizer, activated it, and what Luigi saw he would never forget. A green light shot out from the floor and engulfed the poor yoshi, whose screams were drowned out by the machine's loud commotion. Soon, the machine stopped, but what stepped out of the machine scared Luigi to the point of tears.  
  
The thing looked a lot like a yoshi, but it was metal. Not metal like if a yoshi was wearing a metal cap, but metal as in a robot. It had a bazooka- like weapon fused on its right arm, and on its left hand it had really sharp claws. In its mouth were fangs that were as sharp as its claws, and its tongue (or, as much as Luigi could see of the tongue) looked like an iron mace. Not even its tiny dorsal plates looked the least bit friendly. They were as sharp as the claws and fangs, and they looked like they could come off somehow. But the scariest part was its eyes. They were glowing red and they didn't have any pupils. It looked as though the robot was possessed.  
  
"Gwa ha ha!!!" Robotnik laughed, "Do you like it? It's the newest member of my Robot Army: The Yoshitron 5000! Of course, since you can talk, I'll make you a commander robot..."  
  
Luigi wasn't listening at this point. His fear was replaced with blinded rage. How could this madman take innocent yoshis and turn them into these monstrosities? When Luigi felt Robotnik grab him to throw him into the Roboticizer, Luigi pulled himself from the mad scientist's grip.  
  
"DO YOU THINK YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH THIS!?" Luigi screamed, "TREATING YOSHIS LIKE SOME SORT OF LAB RAT!?"  
  
"Oh, I'm so scared," Robotnik cried sarcastically, "What are you going to do, anyway? None of those losers on that pathetic island even know what I'm doing."  
  
"Oh, really?"  
  
At saying this, Luigi laid the yoshi egg he had been saving for a time like this. Upon slamming it against the ground, the egg shattered, revealing two things: Luigi's cap, and the magic wand that Mario used to turn Luigi into a yoshi in the first place. After putting his cap back on, Luigi grabbed the wand and used it to turn back into his true self, giving Robotnik quite a shock.  
  
"Yoshitron..." Robotnik grumbled, "Fire at will."  
  
Luigi had about two seconds to dodge the incoming shot from Yoshitron, and he used those two seconds to dash out of the room, shutting the door behind him. Luigi was halfway down the corridor when the door blasted open, and out came Yoshitron. As he was running down the hallways, dodging yoshitron's attacks, Luigi wished he had paid more attention to where he was being dragged before. After getting completely lost, Luigi found himself running across a narrow catwalk, with Yoshitron close behind. When Luigi dodged one of Yoshitron's attacks, it blew a huge section off the catwalk separating Luigi from Yoshitron.  
  
"Ha!" Luigi sputtered, trying to catch his breath, "You can't get me now, can you?"  
  
Yoshitron didn't reply. Instead, it yanked its dorsal plates off and shaped them into a ninja star. With one swift throw, the ninja star cut through the chains holding Luigi's side of the catwalk up, sending the catwalk, and Luigi, straight down to the bottom floor.  
  
After recovering, Luigi saw, to his horror, Yoshitron using his "flutter jump" technique to descend to Luigi's level. Looking around for an exit, Luigi found a small ray of hope: an airshaft that had light pouring through it. Luigi crawled through the airshaft and found his ticket out, if he could climb down one of the giant chains, that is. Hearing Yoshitron crawling through the airshaft after him, Luigi decided to take his chances and run down the chain. He didn't get far, however, before he slipped and nearly fell off the chain, only managing to grab onto it from below, forcing him to do a hand-over-hand technique for the rest of the way down. When Luigi decided to look back and see how far he was from Yoshitron, he saw him, not running, but grinding down the chain! With only one other option, Luigi let go of the chain and dropped down into Soda Lake far below. When he surfaced, he saw Yoshitron on the far shore, clearly upset.  
  
"Aww... What's wrong?" Luigi teased, something he wouldn't do if Yoshitron could reach him, "You can't swim? That's too bad. I guess you can't reach me, then."  
  
"nEItHer Can wE..." crackled Luigi's communication device, "ThOse sPY gaDgeTS WerN'T WarTERprOOf. WE won'T bE AblE To tRACK YOooo..." and the device fizzed out.  
  
"Um... Uh, oh..."  
  
When Luigi looked back up at Yoshitron, his big problem was made even worse. Yoshitron had bent over on all fours, revealing a giant cannon on his back, ready to launch. Luigi couldn't escape even if he wanted to (and he did) before Yoshitron fired the cannon. When he did, another surprise awaited Luigi.  
  
"Huh? That isn't a cannonball, that's a... MISSILE!?"  
  
Next thing Luigi knew, he was a mile above Yoshi's Island, clinging onto the missile for dear life. Before Luigi could recover from that shock, he faced another. The missile started bleeping, meaning it was going to blow! The only thing Luigi could think of was to attempt to defuse it, and he knew only one way.  
  
"THUNDERPALM!" Luigi cried, slamming his fist against the missile.  
  
Then, a thousand things happened at once. The missile got electrified, Luigi passed out after getting electrocuted by the missile, the missile got reprogrammed, and it crash-landed on an island... on the other side of the planet. 


	8. Wario Enters the Fray

There was a stunned silence in Gadd's lab when Luigi disappeared from the radar. The last time Luigi appeared on the radar, he was rocketing off the top right of it. Then, it was hard to tell what happened, did his tracking system fizz out, or did he fly out of the radar's range? Either way, everyone was shocked about Luigi's disappearance. The first one to speak was E. Gadd.  
  
"Mario, I'm sorry..."  
  
Gadd didn't finish, however, before Mario rushed outside. Following him, Gadd found Mario getting in the boat he had took to Yoshi's Island and starting it up.  
  
"Mario! What on earth are you doing!?"  
  
"I'm following Luigi."  
  
"WHAT!?"  
  
"Look, he needs my help. Do I need another reason to go?"  
  
"But he flew off the radar! If you follow him, we won't be able to track you!"  
  
"Do you think I care?"  
  
"But, but..."  
  
"I can't just leave Luigi in some unknown area! I'm going, and there's nothing you can do about it."  
  
"What are we going to do about the yoshis? With that robo-yoshi-thingy on the loose, they need to be protected!"  
  
"Relax, I think I know someone who may help. He may need to be bribed a little, but, if the price is right, I know he'll help... maybe..."

-----------------  
  
Wario was "waist deep in his nostrils" at the WarioWare office when his phone rang.  
  
"Yo, Waluigi, could ya get that?"  
  
"Why can't you get it? You're right in front of it!"  
  
"Lazy."  
  
"Why me?" Waluigi whined while he reached for the phone. Wario could hear only some of Waluigi's conservation, but he heard all he needed to hear.  
  
"Hey! I'm not buying! Wait a sec... Mario!? What the heck do you want!? You want us to baby-sit a bunch of yoshis!? Never! Wait, you mean from an evil fat guy with a psycho yoshi robot? I guess that sounds interesting, but not as good as cash. WHAT!? WE CAN NAME THE PRICE!? You betcha, Mario ol' buddy! We'll be right over!"  
  
Immediately after Waluigi hung up, he rushed off to pack while Wario asked about the details.  
  
"Um... Wawedgie? What's going on?"  
  
"If you wanted to know, why didn't you answer the phone?" Waluigi asked as he was throwing all his stuff out of his cubicle into a suitcase. Wario had to dodge a flying pair of underwear before he could continue the conversation.  
  
"As I said before, I was lazy. Now, what's going on?"  
  
"Mario wants us to... How did he put it? Ah, yes, 'protect Yoshi's Island from an invasion by Doctor Ivo Robotnik and his army of robots.'"  
  
"Who the heck is Ivo Robutthead!?"  
  
"How should I know!? All I know is that if we baby-sit the yoshis, we get big bucks."  
  
"Well, why didn't you say so earlier!? Let's go!"

-----------------------------  
  
Soon, Wario and Waluigi were waving goodbye to Mario from the shores of Yoshi's Island. Gadd was also on the boat with Mario so he could "study the new land" that Luigi had crash-landed in. As soon as they were out of sight, Wario turned to the Yoshis and began yelling at them.  
  
"Ok, you losers, listen up! Yellow guy, get me a Carbo Cookie! Bluey! Gimme some Rock Candy! You Pink loser..."  
  
"Um, Wario?" Waluigi muttered, "I don't think we'll get paid if you do that..."  
  
"I don't care! Mario let me watch over the yoshis, so I can do what I... WAH!!"  
  
A purple yoshi had sneaked up on Wario and had shot its tongue out at him. Before Wario knew what was happening, he was trapped inside an egg.  
  
"I hate yoshis." Wario grumbled.  
  
After escaping from the egg, Wario stormed off into the nearby forest.  
  
"Um, Wario?" Waluigi asked, "What are you doing?"  
  
"I'm going for a walk. I can't stand those annoying little dino freaks! Watch over them for me, will ya?"  
  
"What!? I can't stand them either! I'm coming with you!"  
  
Soon, the "Wario Bros." were walking through the same woods that Luigi had been in when he got captured.  
  
"Say, Wario? Do you know where we are going?"  
  
"Nah. All I know is that we are away from those stupid yoshis. And that is what I want!"  
  
"Wait, you don't know where we are!?"  
  
"Nope. So?"  
  
"You mean we're LOST!?"  
  
"Pretty much, yeah."  
  
While Wario and Waluigi were yelling at each other, Yoshitron suddenly appeared, with a large net in tow.  
  
"Uh, Waluigi?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Is that the psycho robot Mario was talking about?"  
  
"Probably."  
  
"So, if we get him, the yoshis are safe?"  
  
"Maybe."  
  
"... CHARGE!!!"  
  
Wario and Waluigi rushed in at Yoshitron, hoping to destroy it and get "big bucks" from Mario. Unfortunately, they didn't know about Yoshitron's attacks so it didn't take long before they found themselves in the net, being dragged back to the Death Egg.  
  
"Well," Waluigi grumbled while holding his nose to keep it from bleeding, "That didn't go as planed, now did it?"  
  
"Hey, it's your fault!" Wario shouted back.  
  
"My fault!?"  
  
"I told you to watch out for that ninja star!"  
  
"But I told you to watch out that plasma gun thingy!"  
  
"Did not!"  
  
"Did to!"  
  
"Did not!"  
  
"Did to!"  
  
Wario and Waluigi didn't stop arguing until they felt themselves being thrown someplace. When they surveyed their surroundings, they realized they were in what looked like Wario's office at WarioWare headquarters. The floor was covered with a red carpet, not unlike the one they had whenever there was a premiere at the Yoshi Theater. The walls were a gold color and on them hung pictures of various robots (including a picture of a Heavy Egg Hammer with a "Robot of the Month" plaque proudly displayed below it). Lastly, across the room was an oak desk with Dr. Robotnik sitting at it with Scratch standing by his side. After untangling himself from the net, Wario stormed up to Robotnik and, not surprisingly, started yelling at him.  
  
"Hey, you punk!" screamed Wario, "What's the big idea!? Why the heck did you and that annoying yoshi-bot thing capture us!?"  
  
"Mind your manners!" demanded Scratch, "You are talking to the great genius, Dr. Eggman!"  
  
"It's Robotnik, you moron!" Robotnik yelled, "Not Eggman! Have you been around Sonic too long?"  
  
"Ahh... Right. So then, Dr. Eggman," Wario started, knowing now that Robotnik didn't like being called Eggman, "Why'd ya drag us over here?"  
  
"Because," Eggman grumbled, realizing what Wario was doing, "I saw you two on one of my spybots and noticed that your companion looked a lot like someone who had recently invaded my facility."  
  
"Who, me?" Waluigi asked.  
  
"Yes, you."  
  
"That must mean that goody two-shoes, Luigi, must have sneaked in!"  
  
"You mean, you know that man?" Eggman asked, now completely interested in what Waluigi was saying.  
  
"Yeah! He, and his brother, Mario, are like, the biggest heroes this side of the Beanbean border! Mario is the real hero, actually. Luigi just sorta sits there and whines a lot."  
  
"Mario, huh? Where is he now?"  
  
"He said he was looking for his brother who, thanks to you apparently, got blasted into next week! He gave us the job of watching the yoshis until he returns. Of course, we didn't agree until he offered cash. For us, money makes the world go round."  
  
"So you'll do anything for cash?"  
  
"Heck, yeah!" Wario replied, taking over for Waluigi, "I'll do anything for some bling-bling! So far I've started my own video game company, stole some pirate's loot, have gone treasure hunting..."  
  
"Wait a second." Eggman interrupted, "Did you say treasure hunting?"  
  
"Uh... Yeah."  
  
"What if I offered you a job that would pay off more than yoshi-sitting? Would you take it?"  
  
"Oh, yeah!" both Wario and Waluigi replied  
  
"Excellent!" Eggman cried, an evil grin forming on his ugly mug, "Consider yourselves hired! Now, here's what you must do..."


	9. Fox Kid

Pain was the only thing Luigi could feel. It was mostly in his ribs, which makes sense since that was where the missile had hit him. When he looked around, all he could see was blackness. Pure, inky blackness.  
  
"This must be a dream." Luigi muttered.  
  
Luigi's hypothesis was proven correct when, trying to walk around, he found himself swimming through the darkness. After "swimming" in one direction for several minutes, Luigi suddenly felt himself getting sucked into someplace. He tried to swim away, but to no avail. He was sucked in, and he found himself falling and hitting the ground. Hard.  
  
Looking around, Luigi saw he was in some sort of Aztec city. It was mostly open courtyard with a huge ziggurat in the middle. There was one other thing that was noticeable: the whole place was on fire!  
  
"Ok, now I'm really sure this is a dream." Luigi grumbled, continuing to look around.  
  
Suddenly, a group of echidnas came running right past Luigi. Interestingly enough, they were walking erect. They also were wearing clothes, proving that they were the actual citizens of the city.  
  
"I'm in a city full of animals?" Luigi wondered, "What was in that mushroom pizza I had this morning?"  
  
When Luigi looked up again, he saw a female echidna standing in front of him, with her back to him. She seemed to be yelling at something that was outside the city walls, trying to get in.  
  
"You must stop!" she cried, "You do not know how to control the Chaos..."  
  
She didn't get a chance to finish before the wall came crashing down. The female echidna ran away before she got buried under the rubble, right past Luigi like all the rest of the echidnas. Luigi was starting to think that they couldn't see him when he looked up and saw something that was even more terrifying than Yoshitron. Towering over the city was someone that even scared Mario out of his wits when he first saw him: Giga Bowser. With one swipe of his giant claw (which Luigi had to duck under), Giga Bowser completely wiped out another part of the wall. He then inhaled deeply and blew out a comet-sized fireball. Luigi had no way to dodge the attack and quickly found himself also on fire, just like the rest of the city. Luigi thought he was done for when, thankfully, he woke up from his nightmare.  
  
Luigi awakened to find himself in a workshop of some sort. More of a garage, actually. Tools were hanging on the gas pipes overhead and the floor was that "no-slip" metal flooring. A warehouse door separated the garage from the outside and a table had served as a makeshift bed that Luigi was sleeping on. Luigi could hear someone working on something outside, so he decided to take a look.  
  
Carefully opening the warehouse door as to not make a commotion, Luigi saw someone working on what looked like an airplane. The plane was shaped like a bi-plane, but its wings were attached to a jet engine, which seemed to double as the pilot's seat. There seemed to be some kind of handle bar on the back, causing Luigi to have fond memories of the Double Dash Tournament. It was painted blue and its name was written on its side: Cyclone. Whoever was working on it must have been changing the oil because Luigi could see two feet sticking out the bottom of plane. Luigi noticed something else, too: whoever was working on it had two tails!  
  
Cautiously, Luigi approached the two-tailed person and pulled out the dolly he was laying on, revealing that the "person" working on the plane was actually a little fox kid! Both Luigi and the fox kid screamed and ran off in opposite directions. Luigi's run ended with him running straight into the warehouse door, while the fox kid didn't stop until he nearly ran off a cliff at the end of the runway his plane was on. Looking at each other from opposite ends of the runway, Luigi was the first to speak.  
  
"I think we're both equally scared of each other." Luigi began, "How about you come back here and introduce yourself? I'm not going to hurt you."  
  
Slowly, the fox kid walked back, and Luigi got a better look at him. The kid seemed to be about Mario's height and his fur was an orange color. In fact, the kid looked a lot like a young Fox McCloud, who Luigi met during the whole "Master Hand" incident, which was also the same incident that Bowser became Giga Bowser for the first time. Soon, the kid was standing right in front of Luigi and they shook hands.  
  
"My name is Luigi." Luigi stated, "What's yours?"  
  
"My name is Miles Prower, but everyone calls me 'Tails.'" replied the fox kid.  
  
"Gee, I wonder why." Luigi asked sarcastically as he looked at Tails two tails waving around behind him.  
  
"So, how did you get here?" Tails asked, "I found you lying unconscious in the jungle right next to an Eggman Missile!"  
  
"Eggman?" Luigi asked. He couldn't figure out who "Eggman" was, but something seemed to ring in his head. That missile was created by that Robotnik guy, not "Eggman". Suddenly, Luigi remembered that the facility that Robotnik ran was called the Death EGG and that the robot that captured him was called EGGrobo. Putting two and two together, Luigi asked, "This Eggman guy doesn't happen to call himself 'Robotnik', does he?"  
  
"Um, yeah. We just call him Eggman because it gets him really annoyed."  
  
"Well, if that's the case, then 'Eggman' is causing trouble where I live!"  
  
"He is!? What's he doing?"  
  
"Let's see, where to start? He put a giant space ship over Yoshi's Island, he's kidnapping the yoshis that live there, and he's turning them into robots!"  
  
"Hold on! Yoshi's Island?"  
  
"Yeah! You know, the island just south of the Mushroom Kingdom!"  
  
"Mushroom Kingdom?"  
  
"... Am I somewhere really far away?"  
  
"Um... You're at my workshop in the Mystic Ruins."  
  
For the first time, Luigi realized that he wasn't anywhere he knew. He was on a promontory sticking out into the ocean and there was an elevated railroad further inland. If that wasn't enough for poor Luigi to take in, he also noticed an island... floating overhead! Luigi immediately did an anime fall and started crying uncontrollably.  
  
"Hey, don't worry." Tails began, "We'll find your way home. I promise."  
  
"Wait a second," Luigi muttered between sobs, "Who's 'we?'"  
  
"That's right! I need to introduce you to my friends! Come on!"  
  
Tails grabbed Luigi's arm and started to drag him to the train station. While boarding the train, Luigi wished he had never agreed to help solve the kidnappings. 


	10. Knuckles Gets Duped Again

High above the skies, Angel Island was unusually quiet. Eggman wasn't trying to steal the Master Emerald in another attempt to conquer the world for once, so the Master Emerald's guardian, Knuckles the Echidna, was able to relax a little. He couldn't let his guard down, however, since he had bad memories about the last time he fell asleep on the job. Not only that, he also now had to keep an eye on the seven Chaos Emeralds that he got after Super Sonic defeated Metal Sonic in order to make sure they didn't fall in the wrong hands again, making his job even more important. While Knuckles was watching for any signs of Eggman, he wasn't aware of the three pairs of beady eyes that were watching him from the shadows.  
  
"So..." one pair of eyes grumbled, "Those are the Chaos Emeralds, huh?"  
  
"Exactly!" exclaimed another pair, "And your job is to steal those emeralds for Egg... er... Dr. Robotnik!"  
  
"Don't forget," reminded the third pair, "We get to keep that really big emerald for ourselves. It's our payment, remember?"  
  
"However," began the second pair of eyes, "Don't think you can just walk in there and nab them. That Knuckles is a really good fighter! And don't think you can dupe him like Robotnik has in the past. He knows that Sonic is on his side and Robotnik isn't!"  
  
"Relax," replied the first pair, "Who said we had to dupe him into thinking that Robotnik is a good guy? We've got this covered. Just stay here and watch the pros."  
  
Then, the first and third pairs of eyes stepped out of the shadows, revealing themselves to be none other than Wario and Waluigi. They went up to one of the Chaos Emeralds embedded on one of the pedestals surrounding the Master Emerald and, not making any attempt to hide it, tried to pry the emerald out of the pedestal. Not surprisingly, they quickly found themselves lying face down on the ground with Knuckles standing over them, with his hands around their necks.  
  
"Nice try." Knuckles grumbled, clearly upset, "Now, what were you planing to do with those emeralds?"  
  
"Hey, now," Wario whined, after giving Waluigi a secret wink, "Is that how you treat someone who was trying to save your emeralds?"  
  
"Very funny," Knuckles said mockingly, "How would stealing them save them, anyway?"  
  
"Because, we just escaped from Eggman's... uh... Flying Fortress of Death, Doom, and Destruction!!! (Copyrighted) and we overheard him say something about stealing the Chaos Emeralds!"  
  
"Did he now?" Knuckles asked sarcastically while letting Wario and Waluigi get up on their feet, "So, why should I believe you? You practically look like Eggman's long lost twin."  
  
"Because," Wario began, not taken aback at all by Knuckles' insult, "When we escaped, some ghost girl came to us and told us to steal them first so they'd be safe. What was her name now? Tanooki? Tiki...?"  
  
"Tikal?"  
  
"Yeah, that's it! She also said that Eggman would send someone who looks kinda like me to trick you into giving the emeralds to him. Good thing I got to you first!"  
  
Now Knuckles was really confused. If Tikal told this guy what to do, then he should let him do it, right? But what if this guy was lying through his teeth the entire time? Or maybe the other guy he was talking about was the real good guy, and he was playing reverse psychology on him. Not knowing what else to do, Knuckles continued the conversation.  
  
"So, um, what does this other guy look like?"  
  
"Gee, weren't you listening? He looks just like me except he's a little thinner and he wears red. Now, if you excuse us, we'll make sure these emeralds are somewhere safe while you deal with that clod."  
  
With that, Wario and Waluigi began gathering up the other emeralds. Knuckles thought about it for a minute, and decided that the best course of action was to keep and eye on the "Wario Bros." (and the emeralds, of course) until this other guy showed up. That way, he could figure out who the real culprit was by seeing how both guys reacted to each other. Yet, while watching Wario's face light up when he put the last Chaos Emerald in his bag, Knuckles couldn't shake off the feeling that he was getting duped... again. 


	11. Double Trouble

Back at the Death Egg, Eggman wondered how his new recruits were doing. He assumed, after checking some personal records, that Wario seemed capable of getting the emeralds by any means possible, especially if he could keep the Master Emerald as part of the deal. Eggman had also sent Scratch with Wario and Waluigi to make sure they wouldn't just run off with all the emeralds after they got them. Still, Eggman felt uneasy about how things were going. Fortunately for him, he had a spybot on Angel Island for the purpose of seeing when Knuckles was off guard. Remembering that, he decided to use it to contact the trio. Pretty soon, he had Wario, Waluigi, and Scratch on his big screen TV.  
  
"So," Eggman began, "How are things going for you three? Do you have the emeralds?"  
  
"Um..." Wario stuttered, still a little surprised about a flying robot suddenly appearing and having Eggman nagging him through it, "We got all the emeralds, even the Master Emerald, but Knucklehead won't let us leave the island until Mario shows up."  
  
"WHAT!? WHY!?"  
  
"Err... It's because..." and Wario explained what had happened between him and Knuckles.  
  
"So, that rotten echidna is not letting himself get duped again, is that it? Well, what we need is 'proof' that Mario is the bad guy!"  
  
"Hey! Wait a second!" Waluigi suddenly exclaimed, "Didn't Mario talk about a time when he got accused of polluting Isle Delfino because the guy who was really doing it pretended to be him?"  
  
"How should I know?" Eggman replied, "I just got here!"  
  
"I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to Wario! Anyway, if you must know, what happened was..."  
  
Suddenly the TV went black. Eggman thought that Knuckles caught them red- handed and turned off the spybot until he realized that his office was considerably darker. Someone had shut the Death Egg's power down! Just as Eggman was about to activate the master alarm, Eggrobo stumbled into his office. He was a pretty sorry sight: he was all covered in ash and he somehow got his side slashed, revealing all the circuitry inside.  
  
"What the heck happened!?" Eggman gasped, "It looks like you got attacked, but Sonic couldn't have done it! He doesn't know I'm here!"  
  
"YOU'VE... GOT... A... VISITOR..." Eggrobo muttered before falling to the ground, revealing the terrifying sight behind him.  
  
The entire hallway behind Eggrobo looked just like him: it was all burned up and there were claw marks all over the walls. Countless other robots, including the E-2000s, were completely slashed to bits and pieces. But the most frightful of all was the giant mutant turtle standing over them, clearly the one responsible for all of the madness. Noticing Eggman, the monster charged through the mess of robot parts and entered Eggman's office. Cowering behind his desk, Eggman held up a piece of paper to represent a surrender flag. He didn't really feel relieved when the monster let out a huge laugh.  
  
"Do you think I want to kill you or something?" the monster bellowed, "You'd be a lot more useful alive, you know. But we'll get to that later. For now, how about you introduce yourself?"  
  
"Uh... I am Doctor Ivo Robotnik, the world's greatest scientist!"  
  
"Yeah, and you're humble, too. Anyway, I am Bowser, King of the Koopas!"  
  
"So then, what's the meaning of charging into my Death Egg!? Or, more importantly, how did you get in? I have top-notch security in here!"  
  
"Well, it was easy because, unlike you apparently, I don't need any fancy gadgets and whatnot to make a wreck of things. I've got all the muscle I need right here," replied Bowser, blowing a fireball into the roof of the office.  
  
"Um... Could you not do that? It looks like I've got a lot of cleaning up to do as it is."  
  
Bowser just laughed, "Cleaning up? Why not just come to my place? It's a lot better than this dump, even before I trashed this place."  
  
Reluctantly agreeing, Eggman found himself getting "escorted" by a group of Hammer Bros. to Bowser's Castle. Once there, Bowser and Eggman had a somewhat enjoyable dinnertime conversation about their lives, their evil plans, and, most importantly, their rivals.  
  
"So..." Eggman began, while trying to enjoy the Mushroom Pasta on his plate, "This Mario guy... He's like Sonic? Always ruining your plans?"  
  
"Yeah..." Bowser replied, with his mouth full of Roasted Cheep-Cheep, "But you seemed to be able to handle him pretty well. I mean, you blasted that annoying green guy off the face of the earth! I figured that, while Mario is off looking for Green Stash, it would be a good time to suggest an alliance."  
  
"An alliance!?"  
  
"Hey come on! It makes perfect sense! My strength, combined with your smarts, would make it impossible for Mario OR Sonic to beat us! Besides, I could use some Robo-Koopas..."  
  
"Say," Eggman interrupted, just remembering something, "Did you have anything to do with some sort of island polluting? That Wario guy said that they accused Mario of doing it even though he didn't."  
  
"Oh, you mean Shadow Mario? Yeah, that was my son's idea. Why you ask?"  
  
"Wait a second. You have a son?"  
  
"Yeah. Hey, Bowser Jr.! Get over here!"  
  
Suddenly the door opened, and, at first, Eggman thought Mario found them, but a closer inspection of the visitor revealed that he wasn't Mario at all. He looked like he was made of water, kind of like Chaos, but he was in the shape of Mario. His eyes were also glowing red, and he seemed to have a ridiculously long tongue. Most noticeable was the giant paintbrush he held in his hand, which seemed to have some sort of rainbow gunk on its tip. As soon as Eggman was done inspecting him, the imposter suddenly transformed into what looked like a young Bowser.  
  
"So, whatcha want, Pop?" the little Bowser asked, "And who is that guy?"  
  
"This is my new ally, Dr. Robotnik. He was asking about your Shadow Mario act so I decided to call you over here so you could show him, and it seems like you did!"  
  
"Yeah, well, I was just doing it to Wendy since it always freaks her out. She can't seem to tell the difference between the real Mario and me. Anyway, why'd the guy ask?"  
  
"Because," Eggman began, more than interested in this new discovery, "I think I know a way to trick a certain 'friend' of mine with your help..." 


	12. Where There's Light, There's Shadow

Station Square is an impressive sight for anyone who's seeing it for the first time. It was a beautiful city that was right next to an ocean. The skyscrapers' many windows reflected the ocean waves, creating a calming blue hue throughout the city. For Luigi, his first view of Station Square was literally breathtaking.  
  
"Um, Luigi?" Tails asked, "You alright? The city isn't that big of a deal."  
  
"Heh... Sorry."  
  
"Anyway, we should really focus on finding my friends so we can try to find your way home."  
  
Tails hardly finished what he was saying when Luigi noticed something blue rushing towards him really fast. When it raced by Luigi, it was going so fast it spun him around. While Luigi was recovering, he noticed something pink moving at a considerably slower rate after the blue thing. It was going slow enough that Luigi could see that it was a pink hedgehog! Pretty soon, the blue thing came rushing back in the opposite direction, spinning Luigi around again, and was followed by the pink hedgehog. This little comedy act continued for a couple of laps until the blue thing ran head-on into Luigi, causing both of them to tumble straight into a wall. By the time Luigi recovered, he discovered two things: the blue thing was also a hedgehog, and the pink hedgehog had some sort of crush on the blue one, considering the fact she was hugging him.  
  
"Oh, Sonikku!" the pink hedgehog cried, "I wish you wouldn't play hard-to- get!"  
  
"Ugh, Amy!" the blue hedgehog shouted back, "Get off me! And stop calling me Sonikku! It's Sonic!"  
  
Luigi couldn't help but laugh at the very one-sided relationship. Unfortunately, this got Amy very upset.  
  
"Hey! You!" Amy yelled, while taking out a hammer, "Stop making fun of Sonikku and me!"  
  
When Amy bonked Luigi over the head, she was expecting him to run off holding his head in pain or, at worst, knock him out. But she was in for a surprise when it turned out her hammer whack drove Luigi straight into the ground! All that could be seen of Luigi was the tip of his cap sticking out just above the surface! Both hedgehogs watched as Luigi burrowed his way around, trying to find a good spot to resurface. Unfortunately, that spot was right under Sonic's feet, resulting in Sonic to suddenly be standing on Luigi's head. Sonic didn't get a chance to get back at Luigi, who quickly ran and tried to hide in a trash can, before Tails came running up, trying to stop the impending fight.  
  
"Wait, Sonic!" Tails cried, "He isn't a bad guy! He's my friend, Luigi, and he needs our help!"  
  
"Huh?" Sonic asked, while looking at the shaking trash can, "What's the problem?"  
  
"Eggman's causing problems where he's from!"  
  
"Eggman!? All right, count me in! Where does your friend live?"  
  
"Uh... I don't think he knows where his home is from here. Judging by the fact that he said he got blasted here by a missile, I think it might be somewhere we haven't been to."  
  
"Well, what are we waiting for, Tails?" Sonic asked, while picking up the trash can with the still terrified Luigi inside, "Get the Cyclone and let's find were this guy lives!"  
  
"But Sonikku!" Amy whined, which she was very good at, "I want to come with you!"  
  
"Um... I don't think that's a good idea." Tails replied, "Eggman might try to kidnap you again if you come with us."  
  
"But I don't get kidnapped anymore! With my Piko Piko Hammer, I can destroy anything that stands in my way!"  
  
"Believe me, I know what she's talking about." Luigi quipped, with only his cap, eyes, and nose peeking over the top of the trash can that Sonic was carrying, "That hammer really hurt. A lot more than the hammers me and my brother used."  
  
"Well, if you say so, Amy." Sonic grumbled, "Just don't expect us to save you if you do get kidnapped!"

-----------------------

At the same time Sonic, and Amy agreed to help Tails find Luigi's way home, Mario was busy throwing up for the eighteenth time on the boat that was (hopefully) going to bring him closer to Luigi. After that pleasant interlude, Mario went below decks to get another Able Juice in an attempt to cure his seasickness. While in his bunkroom, he noticed a college of old newspaper clippings hanging on one of the walls. The papers were varying shades of yellow depending on their age, but Mario could read all of their headlines.  
  
PLUMBER BROTHERS SAVE PRINCESS  
  
MARIO BROS. SAVE BOTH PRINCESS AND YOSHIS FROM BOWSER  
  
Then, Mario felt guilty as he read the next few.  
  
MARIO AND COMPANY SAVE MUSHROOM KINGDOM FROM SMITHY, LUIGI'S WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN  
  
MARIO RECOVERS CASTLE'S POWER STARS  
  
MARIO SAVES SEVEN STAR SPIRITS, LUIGI HOUSESITS  
  
Mario felt a little better as he read the most recent ones.  
  
BROTHERS BACK IN ACTION AS THEY SAVE THE BEANBEAN KINGDOM  
  
MARIO BROS. ARE THE DOUBLE DASH CHAMPIONS!  
  
Looking below the last headline, Mario noticed a picture of him and Luigi proudly holding up the Gold All-Cup Trophy while standing on their kart, The Red Fire. Mario wasn't looking at the trophy, the kart, or even himself, but at Luigi, who had the biggest smile in that picture Mario had ever seen. Luigi seemed so happy in that picture. Mario felt like he was going to cry when, while looking at that picture, he realized that he might never find Luigi or, worse, find him dead. While Mario was wondering about this, E. Gadd entered the room.  
  
"Don't worry, Mario." Gadd began, "I'm sure Luigi is out there somewhere, probably looking for you."  
  
"But what if something happened? What if Luigi got captured by some unknown force? Or, what if... Luigi died?"  
  
"Mario, I'm not physic. I don't know if we'll find Luigi or not. But I can promise you that, until you find Luigi, I will not leave your side."  
  
"Thanks, Gadd."  
  
Suddenly, a siren went off throughout the ship, causing Mario and Gadd to immediately run up to the deck and see what the hubbub was about. When they arrived they saw a group of toads all huddled near the bow of the ship.  
  
"Hey," Mario asked, "What's going on? Why'd the siren go off?"  
  
"I don't really know," replied one of the toads, "I thought it was because we just saw land, but you don't start a siren to signal land, do you?"  
  
"Wait a second. You saw land?"  
  
"Yeah right over there!"  
  
Mario looked out and, sure enough, right ahead of them was an island. It looked like a jungle and it seemed uninhabited, except for the fact there was an elevated railroad station! There was also a house high atop a cliff overlooking the ocean. If there was anything else on the island, it was blocked by the giant mountain range in the background. Mario was still taking in the sights when another toad suddenly started screaming.  
  
"Waaa!!!" the toad cried, "I just saw some dark looking thing on the island over there! That must be what the siren was about!"  
  
When Mario looked where the toad pointed, he too saw some shadowy figure. It was some sort of rodent, but it was standing erect. It had somewhat spiky hair and, even though it was hiding in the shadows, Mario could tell it had black fur. Suddenly, and without warning, the creature curled up into a ball and blasted down the beach, through the water so fast it didn't sink below the surface, and clean through the boat, leaving a huge hole! Mario didn't get a chance to see where it went before the whole boat went into a frenzy. Toads were screaming everywhere and the loudspeaker began shouting emergency procedures. Luckily, Princess Peach had all the boats in the Mushroom Kingdom's fleet equipped with Warp Pipes so, in case of an emergency like this, all anyone had to do was jump in the Warp Pipe and they'd be back at the Toad Town Docks. Naturally, all the Toads were jumping in the pipe in order to escape. Mario and Gadd however, knew they couldn't leave Luigi in a place like this, so they got in a life boat and rowed it to shore. Once there, they watched their boat, their only means of escape, sink.  
  
"Well," Gadd began, not one who lingered to long on the negative, "Let's get going! Luigi won't wait forever, you know!"  
  
Mario showed a faint smile, and walked further inland with Gadd. Mario had a good feeling that, somehow, he was going to find Luigi here.

------------------------------------------

Back on Angel Island, Knuckles was taking a nap where the Master Emerald use to be. It really felt weird for Knuckles to not have the Master Emerald and not have to worry, it was almost like a relief. Knuckles didn't get to sleep long, however, before he was rudely awakened by a sharp kick in the gut. By the time Knuckles had stopped flailing his fists around at imaginary foes who he thought had kicked him, he realized that it was only Wario that had kicked him.  
  
"What do you want?" Knuckles grumbled, really irritated that Wario had woken him up.  
  
"Eh, nothing much. It's just that me and Waluigi were talking about those emeralds and he said something about some sort of time warp you could do with them. What's that about, anyway?"  
  
"You mean Chaos Control? Yeah, that's something only a few people can do."  
  
"Well, how do ya do it?"  
  
"From what I've seen, all they have to do is say 'Chaos Control' while tossing the emerald into the air and catching it."  
  
"What!? That sounds easy! I've got to try it sometime and see if it works... WAH!!! IT'S MARIO!!! HE'S HERE!!!"  
  
Knuckles turned and saw someone sitting on a tree branch above the both of them. He seemed to match Wario's description of the "thief", except he was mostly a bluish color, not red like Wario said. Another thing seemed to stand out about this character, too: he had a giant paintbrush. Before Knuckles could react, the shadowy figure, literally, launched paint out of his brush and Knuckles found himself covered in goop. The guy didn't stop there, however. Pretty soon, all of Angel Island was covered in rainbow colored pollution. While Knuckles stared blankly as the person ran off laughing evilly, Wario came up from behind the bush he was hiding in.  
  
"See! What did I tell you!?" Wario ranted, "That Mario guy is bad news! Do you believe me now?"  
  
"That guy polluted my island," Knuckles grumbled while looking at where he last saw the criminal, "I won't let him do it again. If he shows his face on this island ever again, I'LL GRIND HIM INTO A PULP!!!" 


	13. The Brothers Reunite

High above the clouds, higher than Cool, Cool Mountain or Mt. Mobius, was Star Haven, home of the stars. All was peaceful for the seven Star Spirits, the rulers of Star Haven. They had just foiled Bowser's plot to take over the nearby Dream Depot where dreams were made. Of course, they couldn't have done it without the help of Mario and his friends. They had a lot to thank Mario for, actually. He had reassembled the Star Road when it was destroyed by Smithy so wishes could come true and, another time, he had recovered the Star Rod, the key to granting wishes, from Bowser. However, Twink, a star child who helped Mario recover the Star Rod, was a little concerned. He had just gotten over the fear of the Beanstar being used to take over the world when Eggman showed up, making him quite worried about if Eggman should ever try to attack Star Haven. He decided the best course of action was to ask the Star Spirits about it. Nervously, Twink went up to the Star Sanctuary, where the Star Spirits resided.  
  
"Um, Star Spirits?" Twink asked, "Aren't you guys a little worried about that Eggman guy down below? What if he tries to attack Star Haven?"  
  
"Heh, I wouldn't worry." Muskular, one of the Star Spirits, replied, "That guy doesn't even know Star Haven exists!"  
  
"I'm not so sure." Misstar responded, "If he's working with Bowser now, he's bound to know about Star Haven sooner or later."  
  
"We should not worry!" Eldstar declared, "We were able to defeat Bowser with Mario's help, so we can take on whatever comes our way! Right?"  
  
Before anyone could reply, a loud explosion was heard outside. When the seven Star Spirits (and Twink) rushed outside, they couldn't believe their eyes. Star Haven was in ruin, and lots of stars were running around in a panic. Hovering above the wreckage was a swarm of paratroopers, but something didn't seem right about them. They looked metal, and they flew with jet packs on their backs, not with their wings. While Twink ran for cover back in the Star Sanctuary, Skolar stepped forward.  
  
"So, Bowser did decide to attack Star Haven again, huh?" he mockingly asked, "Time to see if what Eldstar said was true... STAR SHOWER!!!"  
  
Suddenly, the sky blackened, and stars rained down from the sky. However, the stars simply bounced off the Paratroopers' shells.  
  
"YOUR ATTACKS ARE FUTILE." one of the paratroopers began, "YOU CAN NOT DEFEAT THE BOWSER/EGGMAN EMPIRE. SURRENDER AT ONCE."  
  
"Never!" Eldstar cried, "I most certainly am not going to let Bowser take the Star Rod again!"  
  
"WHO SAID WE WERE HERE FOR THE STAR ROD?" the same paratrooper asked, "WE ARE HERE FOR YOU! ATTACK!"  
  
Suddenly, the other Paratroopers dived straight for the Star Spirits. Now, the Star Spirits were fairly good fighters, especially against normal koopas, but these robot koopas were much stronger. Pretty soon, the Star Spirits found themselves being held in place by seven paratroopers, watching as the remaining paratroopers trying to grab the other stars.  
  
"THESE OTHER STARS WILL MAKE GOOD ROBOTS." the paratrooper stated, "EGGMAN WILL BE MOST PLEASED."  
  
"You wouldn't dare!" screamed Misstar, "I would sooner eat a poison mushroom that let you do anything to the other stars!"  
  
"REQUESTING BACKUP." came a paratrooper's voice from inside the Star Sanctuary, "SPECIMEN IS STRONGER THAN EXPECTED."  
  
As soon as the paratrooper was done speaking, the doors to the Sanctuary flew open, and Twink came rushing out. All of the captured stars couldn't help but cheer for Twink as he used his small size to dodge all the paratroopers trying to grab him. Soon, Twink saw there was no way he could save the stars without getting captured himself. Hesitantly, Twink flew to the exit of Star Haven.  
  
"Don't worry!" Twink called to all the other stars as he fled Star Haven, "I tell Mario about this! You'll be saved in no time! I promise!"

--------------------------------------

While the Robo-Koopas were invading Star Haven, Mario was looking all over the mysterious island he and Gadd were stranded on for any signs of Luigi. Having no success, Mario decided that the two of them should take the train to wherever it went in hopes of finding Luigi there. However, right before they got on, Mario noticed something that caused him to grab Gadd by the arm and rush out of the station.  
  
"Whoa! What's the rush, Mario?" Gadd asked while making sure his arm still worked.  
  
"I think I saw the guy who destroyed our boat in the train!"  
  
"Mario, whoever it was wasn't human."  
  
"Fine, I saw the thing that destroyed our boat in the train."  
  
"How do you know? All I could see in the train were peoples' shadows."  
  
"The thing that destroyed our boat had some sort of spiky hair, and I saw the shadow of someone with the same hair in the train!"  
  
"Well then, what should we do?"  
  
"What else? I'm gonna whack him with my hammer as soon as he steps off the train!"  
  
And with that, Mario marched up to the train and readied his hammer. As soon as the train door opened, Mario slammed his hammer down on the guy who he thought was the attacker. When Mario actually looked at the guy, however, he noticed, with horror, a tiny difference between him and the one who attacked the boat.  
  
"You... Your fur... is... blue..." Mario stuttered, "Not black... Um... Oopsies..."  
  
Mario started to sneak away when he heard someone who was with the person he had just attacked start screaming.  
  
"HOW DARE YOU HURT MY SONIKKU!!!"  
  
Mario, not wanting to see who he had just ticked off, ran as fast as he could to the exit. He got about two feet before he, ironically, got hit over the head with a hammer. This didn't stop Mario from running, however, except only now he was about one-third his normal height! He was about to leave the train station when Gadd stopped him.  
  
"Mario!" Gadd gasped, "Behind you!"  
  
"Yeah, I know!" Mario replied while trying to get around Gadd, "Someone with a hammer is really upset with me over a misunderstanding. Now could you let me through!?"  
  
"No, Mario! Behind that!"  
  
Mario turned around, hoping that his persuader wouldn't whack him again, and saw four things: a blue hedgehog, who was the guy Mario accidentally attacked, a pink hedgehog holding a hammer, clearly the one who got ticked off, a fox with two tails, and Luigi! Throwing his safety out the window, Mario raced past all the animals, including the one with the hammer, and tried to hug Luigi. Unfortunately, he could only reach up to Luigi's ankle, thanks to his shorter height. However, another hammer whack courtesy of the pink hedgehog quickly solved that problem. After all the introductions were made and life stories explained, they focused on what they should do next.  
  
"So," Sonic began, trying to figure everything out, "Eggman went to your world, he's turning your friends into robots, and he launched your brother over here, causing you to have to come here, only to have your boat destroyed by Shadow the Hedgehog."  
  
"I guess that's summing it up," Mario answered, "But that still leaves one problem: we're here and Eggman's over there."  
  
"Well, I'm sure Tails will think of something," Amy replied, "Right, Tails?"  
  
Tails wasn't paying attention, however. He was busy chatting with Gadd about the wonders of science. Sonic was about to lecture Tails about not paying attention when Mario heard a familiar voice calling to him in a panic.  
  
"Mario! We've got trouble in Star Haven!"  
  
Mario turned and saw his friend, Twink, high above their little group. Seeing that he got Mario's attention, Twink rushed down to Mario and nearly wiped out Sonic in the process.  
  
"Mario! I've been looking everywhere for you!" Twink cried, "It was only when I got to Yoshi's Island that someone told me that you went out looking for Luigi, so I had to cross this big ocean looking for... who are those guys?"  
  
"They are my new friends," Mario answered, "Sonic, Amy, and Tails. Now, what about this trouble in Star Haven?"  
  
"It was horrible! Star Haven was attacked by these robo-koopa guys and they kidnapped the Star Spirits!"  
  
"Huh? What are the Star Spirits?" Sonic asked.  
  
"The seven Star Spirits," Mario Explained, "Watch over the Mushroom Kingdom and make sure everyone's wishes come true. If they were kidnapped by robo- koopas, that only means one thing: Bowser and Eggman are working together to conquer the world!"  
  
"They grant wishes, eh? Sounds a lot like the Chaos Emeralds to me!"  
  
When Sonic mentioned the Chaos Emeralds, Luigi immediately remembered his little "dream" he had earlier. That echidna girl, didn't she mention something about chaos? Nervously, Luigi interrupted Sonic as he was explaining the Chaos Emeralds to Mario.  
  
"Um... Sonic?" Luigi asked, "You wouldn't happen to know where there are echidnas, do you?"  
  
"There use to be a lot of them on Angel Island," Sonic replied, "But now only one lives there: Knuckles. He's a pretty good friend of mine, but he's kinda anti-social. I don't think he'd like it if you dropped by."  
  
"But he's watching those Chaos Emeralds!" Mario exclaimed, "Bowser and Eggman already have the Star Spirits, do you think that guy alone can stop them from stealing the emeralds?"  
  
"Well, I guess so..."  
  
And with that, the small group of Mario, Luigi, Twink, Gadd, Sonic, Tails, and Amy started walking to Angel Island, unaware of Knuckles current hatred towards a certain Italian plumber... 


	14. Mario vs Knuckles

Getting from the Mystic Ruins to Angel Island is no easy task, considering the fact that Angel Island is floating in the sky. Yet, Sonic figured they could get there by mountain climbing and with a little help from Tails and his ability to fly while carrying two people. Eventually, everyone was up on the island, with the exception of Gadd. He, as you can probably guess, wasn't the fittest of people. Mario had to help him with the final climb up the side of the island by pulling him up over the top of the cliff and onto solid ground.  
  
"Phew! Thanks, Mario." Gadd panted, "I haven't climbed a cliff that high since I had to chase a ghost around Land's End!"  
  
"Um... Right..." Luigi mumbled, "Can we find get back to finding this Knuckles guy?"  
  
While the group was tromping trough the forests that make up most of Angel Island, Mario was deep in thought. Sonic said that Shadow had "died heroically while saving the world" but that seemed to contradict everything that had happened. If he died a hero, how could he have been the villain that had destroyed the boat? Mario was going to ask Sonic about it when he suddenly felt something gushing in his shoes. When he looked down, he saw that he was standing in an all too familiar puddle of pollution. It didn't take very long before everyone else noticed it.  
  
"Eww!" Amy squealed, "What is this stuff? It's messing up my new shoes!"  
  
"Well," Gadd began, "This is clearly the work of one of my less popular inventions: The Pollution Paintbrush. I made it as an April Fools gag a couple of years back but Bowser got his hands on it and... Well... Look at this!"  
  
Everyone looked around that the disgusting sight. Just about everything was covered in pollution. The palm trees were draped in the stuff, vines were discolored by it, and the ground was barely visible thanks to it. Mario just stared at it, hardly frazzled.  
  
"Gee..." Mario asked sarcastically, "I wonder who Bowser asked to do all of this?"  
  
"I think I know..." came a voice from the shadows, "And I believe it was... YOU!!!"  
  
Mario quickly realized what was probably coming next, and immediately ducked. His guess was correct, as a red blur suddenly rushed over his head. Looking up at his attacker, Mario saw it was a red echidna with big fists and a short fuse.  
  
"Wait! Knuckles!" Tails shouted, "He couldn't have done this! He just got here! Did you get duped again!?"  
  
"I am not duped by Eggman!" Knuckles shouted back, "I saw this punk pollute Angel Island with my own eyes! Now, all of you, back off! I've got some unfinished business here!"  
  
Mario had no clue how to fight Knuckles, considering he had only seen echidnas in the biology books Gadd had. Pretty soon, Mario was getting punched all over the island, and he didn't get a chance to recover before Knuckles came and punched him again. Mario quickly tired of getting knocked around and decided to try and fight back. The next time Knuckles rushed in to attack, Mario ducked under the punch and leg swiped Knuckles in the shins, sending him sprawling into a tree. This, obviously, didn't make Knuckles very happy.  
  
"So, you're finally fighting back, huh?" Knuckles mockingly asked, "Well then, things will finally get interesting. YARGH!!!" Mario dodged Knuckles punch, which was so strong Knuckles' fist got stuck in a tree behind Mario. This gave Mario a chance to get away from Knuckles and plan his next move. Eventually, Mario ran over to the Master Emerald Shrine and, seeing the pillars that used to house the Chaos Emeralds, shimmied up one of them. It was short-lived relief, though. Knuckles came crashing through the bushes and, with one mighty punch, knocked the pillar over. As it was falling, Mario leaped for the next pillar and grabbed on to it by his fingers. He didn't get a chance to rest, however, since he saw Knuckles dig his claws into the pillar and climb up! Without any other option, Mario pulled himself up onto the pillar and held his hand out. Suddenly, a familiar flame began to surround Mario's hand.  
  
"FIREBRAND!!!" Mario screamed as the flames surrounding his hand lashed out at Knuckles.  
  
Naturally, fur and flames don't mix. So it's no surprise that when Knuckles got hit by Mario's firebrand, he caught on fire. Realizing that surviving was a tad more important than beating up Mario, Knuckles dropped off the pillar and ran like mad out of the shrine trying to find a source of water. It almost looked like he was one of Mario's fireballs, which was kind of humorous. Mario used this spare time to slide down the pillar and get ready to attack again. However, the next person to appear in the shrine wasn't Knuckles, but poor Twink, who was scared to death in fear that something might have happened to Mario. When he saw Mario, he rushed to him and hugged him (or as close as a star could get to hugging someone).  
  
"Um... Twink?" Mario asked, "Could you not do that? It looks kinda wrong..."  
  
"Heh, sorry about that." Twink replied sheepishly, "I just got a little nervous and I was relieved when I saw you were alright."  
  
"A LITTLE nervous!?"  
  
"Ok! I was really nervous! I'm still upset over the Star Haven thing! Gimme a break!"  
  
Mario was busy apologizing to Twink for being rude when the rest of Mario's little group appeared. They were all talking to a charred and soggy Knuckles that Luigi was carrying over his shoulder. Nervously, Mario approached Luigi and asked him what was going on.  
  
"Eh, nothing much." Luigi answered, "Sonic said that Knuckles is very gullible and that he must have seen Shadow Mario pollute the island and thought he was you."  
  
"Hey!" Knuckles shouted back, "That Gadd guy said that everyone fell for that Shadow Mario trick! I'm not the only one who's gullible around here!"  
  
Knuckles paused for a moment, deep in thought.  
  
"Wait a second..." He began, "I just realized something. If you're the good guy and Shadow Mario is the bad guy, then who are those two..."  
  
"What two?" Mario asked  
  
Suddenly, Knuckles looked very angry. He pulled himself off of Luigi's shoulder, resulting in a loud thud on the ground, but that didn't stop him. He immediately got on his feet and ran off into the jungle.  
  
"Knuckles!" Mario shouted, "Where are you going!?"  
  
Knuckles didn't reply.  
  
"Knuckles?"  
  
"Well," Sonic started, "Something tells me Knuckles just realized he did get duped after all, and I'd hate to be the guy who told him those lies right about now..." 


	15. The Not So Great Escape

Wario and Waluigi were running for their lives. One moment, they were fooling around in the jungle, forcing poor Scratch to eat the pollution Shadow Mario left lying around. The next, they were dodging the attacks of an infuriated Knuckles. Not wanting to be ground into a pulp like Knuckles said he'd do to Mario, Wario grabbed their bag with all the emeralds in it and the infamous trio hightailed it out of the immediate vicinity. Knuckles, however, wasn't just going to let them run off. He chased after them, throwing punches into thin air hoping that they would once in a while hit someone, and they did, too. Pretty soon, Waluigi got the honor of carrying a beaten up Scratch.  
  
"Hey, Wario..." Waluigi panted, "How much longer do we gotta go? This guy weighs a ton!"  
  
"We're almost there..." Wario replied.  
  
Immediately after saying this, Wario dove behind a huge bush, and Waluigi followed. When he got to the bush, Knuckles stood in front of it, waiting for the trio to come out. Suddenly, and without warning, a huge purple convertible, with Wario at the wheel and Waluigi hanging on for dear life in the back, blasted out of the bushes and nearly ran Knuckles over. At this point, Mario and Sonic came running onto the scene. Seeing Mario, Wario took the opportunity to taunt him.  
  
"Why if it isn't my goody two-shoes rival, Mario!" Wario yelled, "Ya shoulda offered me a little more moola for babysitting those yoshis! If you did, maybe you wouldn't have to deal with this mess! Well, it's too late now! There is no way in heck that any of you can keep up with this car! It goes over 280 mph! So long, losers!"  
  
And with that, Wario revved up the car and drove off in the direction that he came, only a lot faster. Mario just looked on, dumbfounded. He didn't know how he could possibly catch up to them, especially without a car himself. When he turned to Sonic to ask what he should do, he saw a little smile on Sonic's face.  
  
"280 mph?" Sonic asked sarcastically, "No problem. Leave this to me!"  
  
After saying this, Sonic immediately ran after Wario and, much to Mario's surprise, Sonic actually seemed to move faster that Wario's car.

--------------------

Wario's car wasn't really meant for off-roading, as it was going a little slower through the jungle than Wario had expected, but it still went well over 250 mph. So, Waluigi was in for a shock when he looked over his shoulder and saw Sonic approaching the car fast!  
  
"WAH! WARIO!!!" Waluigi screamed, "THAT ANNOYING PORCUPINE THAT WAS WITH MARIO IS RIGHT ON OUR TAIL!!!"  
  
"Woulda' stop yelling so loud!?" Wario shouted back, "You're hurting my eardrums!"  
  
"But Wario, we're being chased! How is that possible!?"  
  
"How should I know!? Just throw something at him! Like in the Mario Kart Grand Prix!"  
  
"I don't have anything!"  
  
"Look in the trunk, you idiot!"  
  
Waluigi opened the trunk (which was hard since he was standing on it, but somehow he managed) and saw Scratch, still dazed after getting punched up, lying on top of a load of Mario Kart power-ups. Shells, banana peals, fake item boxes... they were all in the trunk! Grabbing a green shell, Waluigi turned to face Sonic.  
  
"So, you're with Mario, eh?" Waluigi mockingly asked, "Well than, can't let you catch up, you stupid porcupine! TAKE THIS!!!"  
  
Waluigi threw the shell with all the strength he could muster. Yet, Sonic simply ran up the side of a tree to dodge the shell, ran across the treetops for a few seconds, and then ran down another tree, resulting in him being even closer than before.  
  
"You know, the last time I checked," Sonic began shouting sarcastically back at Waluigi, "I thought I was a hedgehog."  
  
Waluigi started to lose his cool at this point. He grabbed a banana peal and threw it at Sonic, but Sonic jumped onto the peal and started riding it like a surfboard! Waluigi, even more frustrated than before, searched through the trunk and, much to his delight, found a Bob-omb, which he quickly threw at his pursuer. His joy turned into bitter rage, however, when Sonic managed not only to dodge the explosion, but also used the blast to propel him even closer to Wario and Waluigi. Completely enraged, Waluigi fired not one, not two, but THREE blue shells at Sonic in rapid succession. Sonic, without breaking a sweat, jumped and did his homing attack off of all three blue shells and wound up in front of Wario's car. This, obviously, caught Wario's attention.  
  
"What the... How'd you get here!?" Wario sputtered, "Geez... You're as annoying as Egghead said you'd be!"  
  
"Wait a sec..." Sonic muttered as he turned around to talk to Wario, resulting in Sonic to be running backwards (and still going faster than Wario's car), "You work for Eggman!? Now you're REALLY gonna get it!"  
  
But before Sonic attacked (or Wario complained about how Sonic could run faster than his car even when he was backwards), Waluigi took matters into his own hands and shoved a mushroom into the car's exhaust pipe. The resulting burst of speed caused the car to finally go faster than Sonic, but it also caused Wario to lose his grip on the emerald bag! Time seemed to slow down as everyone watched all the emeralds fly through the air and land on the road, making it very easy for Sonic to pick them all up. In fact, Waluigi was the only one who was on Eggman's side that managed to grab any emeralds, and he only got one. But Sonic wasn't going to let the "Wario Bros." get even one emerald, so he put down all of the emeralds (which included the Master Emerald) and ran off to finish the job.  
  
"I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!!" Wario cried, "WE LOST ALL OF THE EMERALDS! EVEN THE BIG ONE! HOW CAN IT GET ANY WORSE!?"  
  
"Uh... I think I know how..." Waluigi stuttered, "Look in front of you..."  
  
Wario looked ahead and saw, to his horror, that they were about to drive off the edge of the island! Not only that, they were going so fast that the breaks were useless!  
  
"Well, we've got no other choice..." Wario said calmly, which is kind of an odd way to say something when you're about to drive off a cliff, "RELEASE THE DRAG CHUTE!!!"  
  
Immediately, Waluigi pulled a cord in the trunk, and a "drag chute" popped out, which was really an old pair of Wario's underwear (complete with little mushroom patterns!). It started to work, but when the "drag chute" popped out, it launched Scratch out with it. Not wanting to have to deal with Sonic, Scratch tried to grab onto the "drag chute", causing it to get torn away from the car. This didn't solve anything, since Scratch was now tangled up in a pair of undies in the middle of the road and the car didn't slow down that much. The car careened off the edge of the island, with Sonic close behind (he, too, didn't see the edge).  
  
"NOW what are we gonna do!?" Waluigi whined, "We're really screwed now!"  
  
"Maybe not..." Wario replied, swiping the Chaos Emerald from Waluigi's hands, "Let's see if this 'Chaos Control' thing works for me..."  
  
"What are ya, freakin' nuts!? If you use that, who knows were we'll end up!"  
  
"Well, at least it won't be at the bottom of the ocean. Now, if you'll excuse me, Chaos..."  
  
Wario tossed the emerald up into the air and waited for it to come back down. It didn't, however, since Sonic was right above them and he had grabbed the emerald!  
  
"What the... HEY!!!" Wario shouted, "GIVE THAT BACK, YOU ROTTEN RODENT!"  
  
"Fat chance, fatso!" Sonic shouted back, "I'd sooner drown then let you try Chaos Control!"  
  
"Why you little..."  
  
Wario reached for the emerald Sonic was holding, but Sonic simply moved out of Wario's reach. It quickly turned into a free fall battle to get the emerald. The battle eventually ended with Waluigi giving Sonic a sharp kick in the groin, allowing Wario to get his hands on the Chaos Emerald.  
  
"CONTROL!" Wario screamed, trying to finish the Chaos Control he started a minute and a half ago, "CHAOS CONTROL! CHAOSCONTROLCHAOSCONTROLCHAOSCONTROL!!!"  
  
Suddenly, and to everyone's surprise, the emerald started glowing. Soon, sparks started to surround the emerald. Then, the group was surrounded by a ball of light and disappeared, and not a moment too soon, either. In fact, even though they disappeared, the car still made a splash into the ocean! The rest of the gang eventually caught up and saw that they had gone over the edge of the island.  
  
"EEEKKK!!!" Amy squealed, "WHAT HAPPENED TO SONIKKU!? HE KNOWS HE CAN'T SWIM!!!"  
  
"He didn't drown." Knuckles plainly stated, "Wario used Chaos Control."  
  
"How'd you know that?" Luigi questioned.  
  
"Us echidnas had a close relationship with the Chaos Emeralds." Knuckles answered, "We can tell when Chaos Control is used and who used it."  
  
"How are we gonna find Sonic?" Twink asked, "Do you echidnas know where Chaos Control takes someone?"  
  
"No."  
  
"A general idea of where they went?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Any clue at all?"  
  
"No."  
  
"How 'bout we ask that chicken robot we found tangled up in Wario's underwear a little while back?" Gadd suggested, a little baffled on how the heck a robot could get caught in underwear.  
  
"Sounds like a good idea to me!" Tails replied, "He was working with Wario, so he might know something. And by the way, his name is Scratch."  
  
"Um, right..."  
  
Everyone started walking back to where they left Scratch so they could question him. Everyone, that is, except for Mario. He paused for a moment and looked over the edge of the island at the ocean below, the waves moving back and forward like nothing happened.  
  
"Wario is just a greedy treasure hunter," Mario mumbled to himself, "How could he know how to do Chaos Control?" 


	16. Saving Sonic

Bowser's Castle wasn't the friendliest place in the world. For starters, the woods surrounding the castle consisted of dead oaks and the like. Also, it always seemed to be dark there (makes sense, considering the place was called Dark Land). Even in the daytime, the only source of light was the lava that ran around the castle like a moat. However, for a moment another source of light existed in Bowser's realm: A bright, gleaming ball of emerald colored light. And who should pop out of the light, but Wario, Waluigi, and Sonic, all of them clinging on to Wario's car as it somersaulted over a hill before stopping. Sonic, being use to Chaos Control, quickly recovered from the shock and began surveying his surroundings. Wario and Waluigi, however, weren't. They were still in the car, completely unable to move (except for shaking in place). Eventually, the duo got out of their car and proceeded to yell at Sonic.  
  
"Hey, you idiot!" Wario yelled, "Look at what you did!"  
  
"What I did!?" Sonic shouted back, "You were the one who did Chaos Control, and I have no idea how you actually managed to do that!"  
  
"He's... Uh... Special!" Waluigi replied in Wario's defense, "And I bet if you didn't rush him, he... um... could've sent us somewhere better, meaning it's your fault that we're stuck in this dump! Yeah, that's it!"  
  
"MY fault!? You're buddy didn't have to do Chaos Control to begin with! We could've inflated the tires with your hot air and floated off!"  
  
"Yeah, but... er..." Wario stuttered, "Maybe you secretly did your own Chaos Control and purposely sent us here!"  
  
"WHAT!? I don't even know where we are!"  
  
"What are you, geographically challenged!? We're in Dark Land! Right next to Bowser's Castle at that! If he finds us, he's gonna kill us!"  
  
"Yeah!" Waluigi continued, "He still hasn't gotten over the time when we hit him in the eye with a golf ball! We're even more screwed than if we just let ourselves drown!"  
  
"Oh, what? You haven't heard?" Sonic asked mockingly, "Bowser and Eggman have joined forces!"  
  
"Eh? They have?" Waluigi replied, "Well then, we aren't screwed after all. That's a relief."  
  
"Nah, I still wanna kill you." came a voice from behind Waluigi.  
  
Nervously, Wario and Waluigi turned around and, much to their horror, they were suddenly face to face with Bowser. He was sitting in his Koopa Clown Car, which seemed to have a few "improvements" in the way that it had laser cannons up the wazoo. Just as Wario and Waluigi were about to get on their knees and beg for forgiveness, Eggman appeared behind Bowser, letting them be able to breathe a sigh of relief.  
  
"So," Eggman began, "You only managed to collect one emerald, didn't you? Don't worry, though. Not only does the realization that you can do Chaos Control open new doors for me, but you two also have just managed to get for me something even more important than the Chaos Emeralds... THAT PESKY HEDGEHOG!!!"  
  
"Uh... We did?" Wario stuttered, looking back at Sonic, "Um... Yeah! We did! That trap sure did work, didn't it, Waluigi?"  
  
"Er... Yeah!" Waluigi agreed, realizing Wario's attempt to get the both of them lots of praise, "Using Chaos Control to warp Sonic here... Pure genius!"  
  
"Heh, yeah right!" Sonic shouted, "Even if you did do that on purpose, I can outrun all four of you right now! See ya!"  
  
Sonic then began to run off, but he was quickly stopped by a sudden roadblock consisting of at least ten Heavy Egg Hammer Bros., one of the members of Bowser and Eggman's new line of Robo-Koopas.  
  
"Erm... or not..." Sonic muttered as he turned and ran back the way he came, only to get grabbed by Bowser.  
  
"You really thought that you could get away?" Bowser asked, "With you in our captivity, we'll soon have all the Chaos Emeralds and with them..." Bowser paused for a moment, "Well, you'll see! BWA HA HA!!!"

-----------------------

When Mario caught up to the rest of the group, they were already where they had left Scratch, but now only a torn pair of underwear was there. Apparently, Scratch somehow managed to untangle himself and made a run for it. This didn't make anyone happy, especially Knuckles.  
  
"Scratch is one of Eggman's highest ranking robots..." Knuckles grumbled "AND WE JUST LET HIM GET AWAY!?"  
  
"Hey, it's not that bad," Luigi stated, "Maybe he's still somewhere on the island."  
  
That was when Mario noticed something moving in a nearby bush.  
  
"Hold on," Mario interrupted, "I think I know where he is..."  
  
Suddenly, Mario dove into the bush, and for a moment what sounded like a struggle took place in it. Soon, Mario was dragging a burned up Scratch out from the foliage. They tied him to a tree with the torn up underwear (they couldn't find anything else) and Mario began to question Scratch.  
  
"So," Mario began, "Since when did Wario and Waluigi start working for Eggman?"  
  
"I donno. Eggman just told me to supervise them when they went for the emeralds."  
  
"You did know what you were doing, then?"  
  
"Hey, common! When doesn't Eggman want the Chaos Emeralds? Did you just get here or something!?"  
  
"Um... Actually, yes. Anyway that is beside the point. Did you like supervising the 'Wario Bros.'?"  
  
"They made me eat that pollution your evil twin left behind! Do you think I like them!?"  
  
"Shadow Mario isn't my twin. Anyway, did you know that Wario could do Chaos Control?"  
  
"Heck, I'm still trying to figure out HOW he could do it!"  
  
"So, you don't have any idea where they went?"  
  
"Not a clue."  
  
Mario turned back to the rest of the group.  
  
"We just went around in a big circle, didn't we?" Twink asked.  
  
"Yep," Mario replied, "And I don't think holding Scratch hostage is gonna make Wario give Sonic back."  
  
"But Sonikku may be in danger!" Amy whined, "I don't want anything to happen to my Sonikku!"  
  
"I bet he'd like a lot of things to happen to you..." Luigi mumbled under his breath.  
  
Amy heard the insult, but before she could send Luigi into the ground again, the same spybot that Eggman yelled at Wario through flew in from behind a couple of trees and stopped right in front of Mario. Everyone watched as a little TV screen flipped up and some sort of video started to play.  
  
The location appeared to be inside Bowser's Castle, but there was computer equipment lining the walls. Bowser himself was in the video, and he was messing around with some computer controls.  
  
"Ger... How am I suppose to know if this thing is running or not!?" Bowser yelled at someone off screen, "Ya coulda put some light or something on this thing so I could tell if it is on... Wait a sec...Yikes! It's been on all this time!? Can we restart?"  
  
At this point, the video fizzed out for a second before it started again, this time with a more sinister looking Bowser on the screen.  
  
"So, Mario," Bowser began... again, "I take it you managed not only to managed to send Wario packing, but also managed to recover the Master Emerald and six of the seven Chaos Emeralds before he ran off. However, I bet your wondering where Sonic went when he followed Wario through that Chaos Control. Let me reassure you that he is safe... Uh... Hold on... How do I rotate the camera?"  
  
"Oh... Let me do this!" came a voice from off screen, "I'm surprised how you manage to kidnap that princess so much! You don't seem to even have the intelligence to open the door to her castle!"  
  
Eggman suddenly appeared on the screen and shoved Bowser away from the controls. Bowser retaliated by ramming into Eggman with his horns. A childlike fight quickly endured before the camera fizzed out again. When the video started for the third time, Eggman was on the screen.  
  
"Listen closely, you stupid plumber!" Eggman hissed, "I know you have six Chaos Emeralds. You will give them to me or else..."  
  
At this point, the camera paned over to a roboticizer... with Sonic inside!  
  
"Hey!" Luigi shouted, "That's the thing that turned that poor yoshi into a robot!"  
  
"No duh, Sherlock." Knuckles grumbled.  
  
"SONIKKU!!!" Amy squealed before fainting.  
  
"Now, you have 24 hours to give me the Chaos Emeralds." Eggman demanded, "If you don't, the next time your new rodent friends fight Metal Sonic, it just might be the real thing! BWA HA HA! This message will self-destruct in one second."  
  
Suddenly the spybot blew up, leaving only a pile of soot, half of it which was on Mario's face. The explosion was loud enough to wake Amy up, who, remembering the last thing she saw, began to freak out.  
  
"WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO!?" Amy began, "WE CAN'T GIVE EGGMAN THE EMERALDS, BUT MY SONIKKU IS IN DANGER!!!"  
  
"Uh... Hey! Calm down!" Tails responded, "I'm sure we can think of something, right Mario?"  
  
"Already thought of it!" Mario answered as he started collecting the Chaos Emeralds lying around, "The only problem is that Sonic is in Bowser's Castle. How are we gonna get there in time? It took our boat, which is now at the bottom of the ocean anyway, three days to get here!"  
  
"We can go in my plane, the Cyclone! Just one hitch though, it only has two seats."  
  
"What about that handle bar on the back?" Luigi asked.  
  
"I don't know many people who can hang onto the back of something that's flying. That 'handle bar' is really a backrest, anyway."  
  
"I could hang on! Mario, remember barrel cannon on DK Mountain?"  
  
"Ah, yes." Mario replied, remembering the Double Dash Tournament, "So that solves that problem. Let's see... Twink can easily fly back home, so that leaves Gadd..."  
  
"Um... Actually," Gadd interrupted, "I was thinking of staying here for a while and study the wildlife of this new land. I shouldn't have to bog you down, especially at a time like this!"  
  
"Well, ok... That leaves Knuckles and Amy. How are we going to get them over to the Mushroom Kingdom?"  
  
"I know!" Tails yelled excitedly, "I've been wanting to test something I built a little while back and now seems like a good time to! Come on! We gotta get to my workshop!"  
  
The group then ran off... completely forgetting about the fact that they left Scratch tied to a tree.  
  
"Uh... Wait a second, come back here!" Scratch yelled, "You can't just leave me here! Come back and untie me! ...Please?"

------------------------------

Even though they left Gadd behind and let Twink go on ahead, it still took the remaining group of Mario, Luigi, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy a couple of hours to off Angel Island and to Tail's workshop. Once there, Tails gave Knuckles what looked like a Chaos Emerald that was run through the Roboticizer.  
  
"This is what I like to call an 'Artificial Chaos Control'." Tails explained, "It basically works like a real Chaos Control, but anyone can use it. But like Chaos Control, I really have no idea where you'll end up..."  
  
"I don't care!" Amy interrupted, "If it gets me closer to my Sonikku, I'll take it!"  
  
Cautiously, Tails backed away as Knuckles tossed the emerald into the air.  
  
"Chaos... CONTROL!" Knuckles shouted.  
  
Much to Mario and Luigi's surprise and Tails' delight, Knuckles and Amy were suddenly swallowed into a ball of light and disappeared.  
  
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Tails asked, "To the Cyclone! We must save Sonic!"  
  
Mario, Luigi, and Tails ran outside to where Tails had left the Cyclone. Tails got in the driver's seat, Mario got in the passenger's seat, and Luigi grabbed onto the headrest/handle bar.  
  
"Are we all ready to go?" Tails asked.  
  
"Yep! Letsa go!" Both Mario and Luigi replied.  
  
"Ok... T-minus 3... 2... 1... Ignition!"  
  
The Cyclone blasted down the runway, leaving poor Luigi, who didn't realize how fast the Cyclone was going to go, hanging on for dear life. When the Cyclone reached the end of the runway, it flew up into the air... On a mission to save Sonic the Hedgehog. 


	17. The Emerald Stars

After making a quick stop at Bob-omb Battlefield, Mario, Luigi, and Tails flew over to Bowser's Castle, where Sonic was being held hostage. Being that it was the first time that he had seen Bowser's Castle, Tails was a little worried.  
  
"W-We g-gotta go in there?" Tails stuttered, "It looks kinda scary..."  
  
"Aw, come on!" Mario replied, "What are you? Man or mouse?"  
  
"Um... neither..."  
  
"That's not what I meant..."  
  
"Don't worry," Luigi reassured, although he was also a little scared, "Me and Mario must've gone through that castle a million times! With us on your side, you don't have to worry about being killed or smashed or squashed or fried or falling down a bottomless pit or..."  
  
"Um, Luigi? Could you not be that graphic? You're not really boosting his confidence that much by saying that."  
  
"Heh, sorry..."  
  
Cautiously, the trio moved up to the huge castle doors. Using all the strength he could muster, Mario pushed on the door and slowly, with a loud creek, it opened.  
  
"Bowser doesn't lock up his castle!?" Tails asked, "He sure is cocky, isn't he?"  
  
"Well," Mario began, "If he wants us to give him those emeralds, he wouldn't shut us out, now would he?"  
  
"Oh yeah... I knew that. Really."  
  
"Sure you did. Anyway, shouldn't Knuckles and Amy be here by now?"  
  
"They're probably still trying to get here from wherever that 'Artificial Chaos Control' sent them, but we can't wait for them any longer. Bowser and Eggman's deadline is in an hour!"  
  
"Woah! That soon!? We gotta get in there and save Sonic! Letsa go!"  
  
So the three of them went into the castle, not aware of what Bowser and Eggman were really going to do with the Chaos Emeralds...

---------------------------------------

What Tails said was right. At that moment, Knuckles and Amy were wandering around helplessly lost in the middle of a spooky forest. What made the forest really scary, aside from all the sinister looking trees and the occasional wolf howl, was the fact that, no matter where they went, they felt like they were going around in circles. It didn't take long before Amy started to complain.  
  
"Where are we!?" Amy whined, "At this rate, we'll never reach Sonic in time!"  
  
"You know," Knuckles grunted, "Maybe if you stopped complaining for one second and tried to help, we could get out of here!"  
  
"But that wouldn't help! See?" Amy retaliated as she pointed to one of the trees off to the side of the road, "We're going in a straight line, but that's the third time I saw that tree! And now I can see a patch of flowers that we passed two hours ago! I'm telling you, this forest goes on forever!"  
  
"A forever forest, huh? Well then, Miss Know-it-all, tell me: How do we get out of here?"  
  
"That's the problem! We can't! It goes on forev... EEK!"  
  
Amy suddenly ran ahead of Knuckles and tried to hide in a nearby bush. Not at all amused, Knuckles walked over to the bush and pulled a terrified Amy out.  
  
"Ok," Knuckles grumbled, "What is it this time? Is it another 'Tree Monster' that turned out just to be branches swaying in the wind?"  
  
"N-No..." Amy shuttered, "I-I s-saw a g-ghost be-behind me..."  
  
Knuckles looked backward and only saw the last few miles of road he and Amy had just walked down.  
  
"Ghost my rear end!" Knuckles shouted, "You are getting more cowardly every minute! Stop whining and keep walking!"  
  
This happened a few more times before Knuckles got so annoyed, he gave up on trying to calm Amy down.  
  
"All right! Fine! You want me to go find your ghost? I'll go over behind those trees where you last saw him and, if he isn't there, I'll just leave you there the next time you go hide in the bushes!"  
  
Knuckles stormed over to the nearby trees, expecting nothing to be there. But he was in for a big surprise when fifteen ghosts, all of them looking like simple round balls of white smoke, suddenly blasted out from inside the trees and surrounded Knuckles and Amy! Even more shocking was when they formed together, and became one BIG ghost!  
  
"I told you!" Amy squealed, "But you wouldn't listen! Now what are we gonna do!?"  
  
"There's only one thing to do..." Knuckles uttered, "RUN!"  
  
Knuckles and Amy quickly ran off with the giant ghost in hot pursuit. Unfortunately, they weren't nearly as fast as the ghost, and it soon caught up with them. With a mighty leap, the ghost launched himself through the air and landed on top of the two terrified mammals. But, rather than making any commotion, all three of them simply disappeared in a cloud of smoke, causing Forever Forest to return to its eerie quietness once again.

--------------------------------------------

"You really think Mario's gonna save you?"  
  
Sonic looked up from staring down at floor of his roboticizer to see that Bowser was taunting him... again.  
  
"Yeah, I do." Sonic answered, "And I'm sure he'll kick your butt extra hard this time."  
  
"Oh, really? Well, he only has one more hour left to do it or else..."  
  
Bowser marched over to the control panel for the roboticizer and fiddled with the controls a bit, which really didn't reassure Sonic that much. But Bowser didn't get to gloat long before Eggman came rushing into the room, with a worried look on his face.  
  
"Uh oh... What's wrong?" Bowser asked.  
  
"I saw Mario on one of the security cameras!" Eggman replied.  
  
"WHAT!? He was over on Angel Island the last time I checked! How'd he get here so fast!?"  
  
"That fox boy was with Mario... He must've let Mario use that blasted Cyclone!"  
  
"So, uh... If Mario gives us the Chaos Emeralds, does that mean we can't roboticize Sonic?"  
  
"You better not!" came a voice from the doorway.  
  
Bowser and Eggman turned and saw Mario, Luigi, and Tails standing in the doorway. Quickly pulling themselves together, the two villains began their "negotiations" with Mario.  
  
"Ok, you pesky plumber," Eggman began, "Give us the emeralds or your friend will kiss his days of flesh and blood goodbye!"  
  
"You want the emeralds? Fine!" Mario said as he pulled out a huge bag with the words CHAOS EMERALDS printed in bold letters on the front, "I have them right here, now release Sonic."  
  
"Wait, Mario!" Tails protested, "You can't just give Eggman the emeralds!"  
  
"Silence, fox boy!" Eggman shouted, "Mario, give me the emeralds first, then I'll release Sonic."  
  
Without batting an eye, Mario threw the bag at Eggman's feet.  
  
"There! You can have them. Now, about Sonic?"  
  
"Boy, you really believed I was going to free Sonic?" Eggman asked mockingly as he walked over to the roboticizer, "You're even bigger sap than Knuckles!"  
  
"You little JERK!..." Sonic growled.  
  
"Shut up, you rotten rodent! Now, Bowser! Turn on the roboticizer while I put these emeralds to good use."  
  
Mario was going to rush in and punch Eggman square in the face but a huge group of Egg Pawns suddenly surrounded Mario, Luigi, and Tails, keeping them right where they were standing. As Bowser was warming up the roboticizer, Eggman dramatically reached into the bag.  
  
"At long last, all seven Chaos Emeralds are mi... What the!?..."  
  
Looking down, Eggman suddenly realized that what he had pulled out of the bag was not a Chaos Emerald. Instead, it was a black sphere with little oval white eyes, yellow feet, and a fuse. Without warning, the little character made a weird noise, flashed red for a couple of seconds, and then blew up, propelling Eggman against the far wall. The blast also blew a couple of Egg Pawns to pieces, allowing Luigi to run over to the "emerald" bag.  
  
"Well, Mario, you were right! The plan worked!" Luigi shouted before pulling another Bob-omb out of the bag and turning his attention to the remaining Egg Pawns, "Now then, who's up for a little game of Dodge Bomb?"  
  
Mayhem ensued for the next few minutes inside Bowser's Castle. From the deafening explosions caused by the Bob-ombs Mario, Luigi, and Tails were throwing to the flying robot parts that were the result of Egg Pawns being on the receiving end of the thrown bombs, the place was a giant melee. During this time, both Bowser and Eggman franticly tried to activate the roboticizer, but the explosions kept blowing them away from the controls. Eventually, Bowser managed to reach them and when Mario realized this, all of the Bob-omb action stopped.  
  
"Alright, Mario!" Bowser shouted, "You had your chance to save your friend, but now it's too... YEOUCH!!!"  
  
Mario saw something glowing bounce off of Bowser's head and land next to the controls. It turned out to be none other than Twink!  
  
"Sorry I was a little late!" Twink apologized, "I went back to Star Haven to check up on the damage, but no time to talk about that! I gotta free Sonic here!"  
  
"Oh no you don't!" Bowser growled, coming at Twink with his fists clenched, "I'm gonna grind you into stardust, you little five-pointed nuisance!"  
  
Bowser threw his fist at Twink, but Twink flew out of the way at the last minute. So instead of pounding Twink, Bowser had pounded the "Open Cage" button on the controls of the roboticizer. Seizing the moment, Sonic ran out of the roboticizer and rejoined Mario, Luigi, and Tails.  
  
"Heh, cool plan, Mario!" Sonic complimented, "Now we can just waltz on outta here, right?"  
  
"Sure, letsa..." Mario trailed off, "Wait a minute... Where's the Chaos Emeralds?"  
  
"Right here, stupid!" Bowser snorted as he held up the real Chaos Emerald bag, "You got so caught up with your little Mario Party game that you forgot to watch this!"  
  
"Uh, Mario?" Sonic asked, "If you knew you were going to give Eggman a bag of bombs, WHY'D YA BRING THE REAL CHAOS EMERALDS!?"  
  
"Um... We didn't have time to drop them off in a safe place?"  
  
"And now," Eggman interrupted, "I shall show you our master plan!"  
  
Eggman pulled back a curtain and revealed some sort of machine that had slots for all seven Chaos Emeralds and above them was, imprisoned in cages, the seven Star Spirits!  
  
"WAH! STAR SPIRITS! WHAT HAPPENED!?" Twink cried.  
  
"They can't hear you. Give it up!" Bowser shouted.  
  
"Um... What are you going to do?" Mario asked nervously.  
  
Neither nemesis replied. Instead, Eggman began inserting the emeralds into the slots. After he did that, Bowser pulled the only switch on the machine and the machine began to rumble and sparks began to fly from it. Suddenly, the color began to drain out of the Chaos Emeralds until they all looked like diamonds. Then, they all fell out of their slots in the machine and shattered like glass when they hit the floor, almost giving Sonic and Tails a heart attack. Mario, Luigi, and Twink, however, were too busy looking at the Star Spirits to be shocked by the emeralds. The Star Spirits were slowly becoming crystalline, and they were changing into a rainbow of colors. It almost looked like the Star Spirits and the Chaos Emeralds were fusing together, which they were.  
  
"YES! IT WORKED!!!" Bowser shouted.  
  
"More powerful than the Chaos Emeralds or the Star Spirits..." Eggman began, "It's the ultimate source of power... THE EMERALD STARS!!!"  
  
While the heroes stood shocked and the villains celebrated, the Emerald Stars floated up into the air and began to glow brightly. Suddenly a loud siren turned on, causing Bowser and Eggman to suddenly panic.  
  
"Oh no! The Emerald Stars! They're to powerful to be held here!" Eggman yelled, "We gotta get outta here before it blows!"  
  
Everyone began to try and open the door that Mario had gone through, but to no avail. Apparently, one of the Bob-omb blasts must have caused some rubble outside to fall in front of the door, sealing everyone inside.  
  
"Twink!" Mario shouted, pointing to a high window "You're the only one who has a chance of reaching that! Get out of here while you still can!"  
  
"But, but..."  
  
"Just do it!"  
  
Reluctantly, Twink obeyed. As he was flying away, Wario and Waluigi walked in through another door in the lab.  
  
"Hey would ya keep it quiet down here!" Wario demanded, "We're trying to sleep upsta... Uh... Uh oh..."  
  
Wario and Waluigi immediately shut the door and ran back through the hallway trying to find a way out. They didn't even turn around when they heard the mother of all explosions go off behind them. Wario wasn't fast enough to reach the back door of the castle, however, and he got caught in the explosion. When Waluigi got out, he still ran for a couple of yards before turned around and saw the chaotic site behind him.  
  
Bowser's Castle suddenly exploded into a giant fireball. Everyone, Mario, Luigi, Wario, Bowser, Sonic, Tails, and Eggman, could be seen flying in all directions from the blast. After the initial explosion, the Emerald Stars rose up from the wreckage, circled around for a minute, and then all of them rocketed off in all different directions. Waluigi just stood there for a minute, dumbfounded.  
  
"This can only mean one thing..." Waluigi whispered, "... I'M THE CEO OF WARIOWARE!!! YAHOO!!! FAME, FORTUNE, AND GLORY, HERE I COME!!!"  
  
And Waluigi ran off, not caring at all that everyone was blasted into an oblivion and the Emerald Stars were now scattered all over the world. 


	18. Mario's Chaotix

Things were moving slowly at the Chaotix Detective Agency. The problem seemed to be that either few people had a problem needing solving, fewer people were willing to go to their office on Angel Island, or even fewer were willing to pay the Chaotix's high fees. The inside the office proved this fact even more, as the three members of "Team Chaotix", Espio the Chameleon, Vector the Crocodile, and Charmy Bee, where sitting around idly waiting for the employer that would never come. Espio was polishing his ninja stars for the nineteenth time, Charmy was busy playing Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, and Vector was sleeping at his desk. Vector wasn't going to be sleeping long, however, since Charmy wasn't exactly famous for keeping mouth shut while he was playing games.  
  
"ARG!!!" Charmy yelled, "Stupid Ultima Crystals! Stop casting Logos on my entire clan! Don't you dare Charm my White Mage! Ugh! Now he's casting Cura on all the Crystals! ARG!!!"  
  
"H-Hey!" Vector grumbled, not at all happy about being woken up "I'm trying to sleep! Why don't you play that outside?"  
  
"Can't... Stop... Must... Defeat... Totema..."  
  
Completely irritated, Vector hoisted Charmy up by his wings, marched him over to the front door, and tossed him out, all while Charmy was still playing FFTA. Vector heard a loud "boink" as Charmy bounced off a tree and landed in some bushes.  
  
"You know..." Charmy mumbled, seemingly unaware that he had just gotten thrown against a tree, "Maybe I should use my 'Charm' Law Card for this battle..."  
  
"You keep thinking that, buddy." Vector muttered as he went back inside.  
  
"Heh, I guess you're in a bad mood, aren't you?" Espio joked as Vector walked back over to his desk.  
  
"Yeah, well, just don't get between me and my sleep and everything's fine." Vector replied as he got back in his office chair.  
  
"You know, if you spent as much time looking for cases as you do sleeping, we wouldn't have any problems."  
  
"Hey! Are you saying it's my fault that we're ten thousand rings in debt!?"  
  
"Actually, those ten thousand rings would only be the medical bills we paid when you dragged us on that Eggman mission... THAT WE DIDN'T GET PAID FOR!"  
  
"What medical bills? You mean the ones for YOUR injuries?"  
  
"I needed twelve stitches on my butt thanks to how you carried us in power formation! I mean, come on! What was with carrying us in your mouth, anyway?"  
  
"That's how crocs always carry things! Besides, you guys made pretty deadly projectiles when I attacked."  
  
"Charmy suffered mild concussions from that, by the way."  
  
"Hey, come on now! Why are we arguing anyway? I mean, it's not going to get us anywhere if we just yell at each other! If it did, I would've done it a long time ago!"  
  
"Heh, just like you. Only settling for the peaceful solution if no other way is possible."  
  
"Well, at least I can accept the peaceful solution. I know a lot of people who can't... But that's beside the point. What we need is a case and we need it now! The only problem is that a case isn't just gonna fall out of the sky..."  
  
Vector casually glanced out of the window, and saw something caught his attention. High in the sky, he could see what looked like a red missile dropping down at a fast rate. When it hit the ground just outside the Chaotix Detective Agency, it didn't explode like Vector, who had ran and hid under his desk, expected it to, it just made an intense "Thud!", bounced up a few feet and, whatever it was, it got stuck in a tree.  
  
"Speak of the Devil, eh?" Espio asked, to a rather embarrassed Vector coming out from under the desk.  
  
Before Vector could reply, the door blasted open and Charmy rushed in.  
  
"GUYS! GUYS! SOMETHING REALLY INCREDIBLE HAPPENED!!!" Charmy yelled  
  
"Woah! Calm down!" Vector demanded, "We know! We know! Something just crash landed outside!"  
  
"I'm not talking about that, silly! I just beat the Hot Awakening Mission without having to resort to my "Charm" Law Card!"  
  
"..."  
  
"What?"  
  
Vector didn't reply. Instead, he grabbed Charmy by his antenna and once again dragged him out of the house, with Espio following close behind. Outside, they could see some of the trees partly destroyed (broken branches, ripped bark, etc.) and a giant crater where the "missile" had hit the ground before bouncing back up. Looking where the "missile" should have wound up, they saw an unconscious Italian looking man hanging on a high tree branch by his overalls!  
  
"What the..." Espio mumbled.  
  
"Who's that guy?" Charmy asked.  
  
"How should I know!?" Vector replied, "All I know is that this guy, whoever he is, looks like he needs a lot of help! And you know what that means..."  
  
"Money! Money! Money!" Charmy chanted excitedly.  
  
"I think he means we can pay or bills now." Espio interrupted.  
  
"Aww, man..."  
  
"Hey, Charmy," Vector asked, "Would ya mind getting him off that branch and bring him inside?"  
  
"Do I get paid?"  
  
"What!? No!"  
  
"Then I'm not doing it!"  
  
"What the... Yes you are! You're the only one who can get up there!"  
  
"Espio can! He's a chameleon!"  
  
"Grrr... Fine! Espio! Could you get that guy off that tree branch?"  
  
"No."  
  
"WHAT!? What are you whining about now!?"  
  
"The last time I listened to one of your ideas, I got twelve stitches in my butt."  
  
"ARG! Alright! Fine! You want ME to go up there and get him!?"  
  
Espio and Charmy nodded.  
  
"Aw, dang..."

--------------

Two hours, twelve failed attempts, and one chainsaw latter, Vector managed to get the guy down from the tree and bring him inside. Once inside, Vector laid the guy on Charmy's bed (despite all of Charmy's complaining) and watched him until he woke up. Another two hours passed before Vector noticed the guy was finally starting to wake up.  
  
"Ugh..." the guy moaned, "Mama Mia, where am I?"  
  
"Well, you crashed outside the Chaotix Detective Agency," Vector replied, "So we figured you'd probably prefer waking up inside rather than hanging on a tree branch. But, er... Who are you? And how on Mobius could you crash land outside our office to begin with!? It just doesn't make sense!"  
  
"Oh boy... This is gonna take a while... Well, my name is Mario and what happened is..."  
  
And Mario took up pretty much the rest of the day telling Vector the entire story. Espio and Charmy came in the room just as Mario got to his little fight with Knuckles, and they quickly started paying attention to the story also. It was night time by the time Mario finished his story.  
  
"Boy," Vector started, "You're really in a mess, aren't you?"  
  
"I always though nothing was more powerful than the Chaos Emeralds," Espio mumbled, "Guess I was wrong..."  
  
"So that's why we saw Scratch tied up in a pair of undies yesterday!" Charmy exclaimed.  
  
"Um... Right..." Vector grumbled, "Anyway, Mario, you need any help fighting Eggman and Bowser? We'll do anything for cash at this point. We're nearly broke!"  
  
"Sure! You guys can help!" Mario replied, "I'm probably going to need all the help I can get! Besides, I can relate. Our plumbing business has nearly gone bankrupt multiple times because I get so wrapped up saving Peach."  
  
"Well then, it's settled. Team Chaotix is at your service!"  
  
There was a small arouse of cheers in the office before Espio suddenly realized something.  
  
"Wait a minute... How are going to get to the Mushroom Kingdom in the first place?"  
  
Everyone's joy went away as they all wondered what to do. Eventually, Mario remembered something very important.  
  
"Hey! I completely forgot! We left Gadd here so he could 'study the wildlife'! Maybe if we check up on him, he'll have something that can help us! Now, if only we could find him..."  
  
"Don't worry!" Vector replied, "We've done missing person cases before. It shouldn't be hard to find him if he isn't even lost, right?"  
  
Stunned silence.  
  
"Um... Right?"  
  
"We haven't done a missing person case before." Charmy stated, "We've found missing chao, but not people."  
  
"Eh, close enough. Let's go find this Gadd fellow!"  
  
And with that, "Team Chaotix" was back in business with their new employer. And it's a good thing Mario keeps his promises, because he didn't know what Charmy did to Eggman when they weren't paid for "helping" him... 


	19. Another Vision

While Dark Land was always... well... dark, just about every other part of the Mushroom Kingdom was bright and cheerful. With lush green fields, tranquil lakes, and a sun that smiled (literally) down on the land, it was no wonder why the Toads who lived there always seemed to be happy. On a hillside near one of the lakes, Princess Peach and her loyal steward, Toadsworth, were having a picnic while enjoying the scenery.

"My, isn't it a fine day for a picnic, Princess?" Toadsworth asked while munching on a piece of cake.

"Yeah," Peach replied, "But I'm still a little worried about Mario. What if something happened to him while he was searching for Luigi?"

"Oh, don't worry! I've seen Mario do much more dangerous things then just a search and rescue. I mean, he's saved you from Bowser how many times? Eight? I'm sure he can find Luigi wherever he may be."

"Well, I think I've been kidnapped more times then that, but aside from that, I guess you're right. After all, what's the worst that could happen?"

Before Toadsworth could reply, Peach suddenly let out a piercing scream. Toadsworth franticly looked around for any signs of Bowser before he noticed what Peach was actually looking at. Near the edge of the lake, what looked like a corpse of some blue rodent had washed up on the shore. Even more shocking was the fact that he was holding what looked like Eldstar, but it was a greenish color and it looked like a crystal. Completely forgetting about the picnic, Peach and Toadsworth rushed to the scene.

"What happened!?" Peach cried, "Is he dead!?"

"Well..." Toadsworth began as he checked the rodent, "He still has a pulse, but we better hurry him over to the hospital if he's going to live. Give me a hand picking him up!"

"Don't hurt yourself, Toadsworth. I can carry him by myself. But could you bring that Eldstar-looking thing back to the castle? I want to know what it is. Something tells me it's important."

Toadsworth obliged and rushed the star to the castle. Meanwhile, Peach, using the strength she developed thanks to uprooting a lot of veggies during her adventure in Subcon, was able to hoist the rodent over her shoulders and carry him to the hospital. But on the way, she couldn't help but think of one worrying thought.

"First the missing yoshis..." Peach whispered to herself, "Then Luigi disappearing, then that weird explosion from Bowser's Castle, and now this. I really wish Mario would come back soon, before something really horrible happens..."

* * *

When Luigi came to, he looked around. All he could see was the all-to-familiar inky blackness.

"Oh, no..." Luigi grumbled, "Not again..."

But before Luigi could protest any further, he felt himself getting sucked into the void... again. When he landed, he was in the same ancient city, but it wasn't on fire this time. Instead, a group of echidnas were all watching what was happening on the ziggurat. A really old echidna was standing at the top with the same female echidna. About halfway down, much to Luigi's surprise, was someone who looked a lot like Bowser!

"But my great Lord Pachacamac," The Bowser look-alike protested, "I was only using the Chaos Emeralds for trivial purposes, nothing that you should worry about!"

"I don't care!" Pachacamac shouted back, "You're a menace to society! I hereby banish you from the city! Guards! Take him away!"

A small group of echidnas surrounded "Bowser" and began to drag him out of the city. As he was being pulled out the main gate, Luigi heard him shout something that made his blood run cold.

"You people don't know the real power of those emeralds! I'll show you! I'LL HAVE MY REVENGE ON ALL OF YOU!!!"

Completely terrified, since he knew what that revenge must have been, Luigi tried to tell Pachacamac what was going to happen, but when he turned around to face him, he was in a completely different location!

"I hate dream sequences..." Luigi mumbled.

Looking around, Luigi noticed he was near where Tails' Workshop would have been if, you know, it wasn't 2000 years in the past. Also, at the very end of were the runway was in the present, the "Bowser" was talking with someone. When Luigi took a closer look, he saw that the other guy was a Wario look-alike!

"Let me get this straight..." The Wario clone whined, "You want me to go in that cursed city and risk my life just so you can some jewelry!?"

"It's not just emeralds!" The Bowser look-alike snorted, "And they are well worth dying for. Besides, you're a thief. You know what you're doing."

"Yeah, yeah. But you better keep your side of the deal, you big lug! Because if you don't..."

"Hey, relax. I'll teach you one of the emerald's powers, I promise. You want Chaos Control, right?"

"Whatever is the one that lets me make a quick getaway is the power I... Hey! Who's there?"

Luigi suddenly realized that they had noticed him and tried to run away. However, "Bowser" took one mighty leap and landed right on top of Luigi. Looking up at "Bowser", Luigi thought he was dead meat when the nightmare ended and Luigi woke up.

Now, instead of having Bowser on top of him, Luigi had a giant frog in his face, probably because he was lying in the middle of a jungle. This, obviously, freaked Luigi out. He jumped to his feet, pulled the frog off his face, and was about to throw the frog into a bush until he heard someone call out to him.

"Hey! You found Froggy!"

Turning around, Luigi saw a giant purple cat running up to him. Having gotten over the shock of meeting humanoid animals long ago, Luigi handed the frog to the overly-excited cat with only a slightly confused look on his face.

"Gee, thanks." The cat replied, "Froggy sometimes likes to go exploring during our fishing trips. My name is Big, what's yours?"

"Uh... It's Luigi," Luigi answered, "You wouldn't happen to know where we are, would you?"

"Yeah! My house is only a short walk away! You wanna fish a little first though? The fish are really biting near those old ruins..."

The mentioning of "old ruins" immediately set off sirens in Luigi's head.

"Woah! Old ruins!?" Luigi asked, completely shocked, "Where!?"

"Over there." Big replied pointing, "Just don't get lost. This is a jungle, after all."

After thanking Big, Luigi set off, hoping that if he found the ruins, he might be able to solve the mysteries of the weird visions he was having.


	20. Mr Wario and the Pokemon Reject

Bootler's whole purpose in life, or rather, in his afterlife, was to serve Lady Bow. He spent all of his days in the Boo Mansion making sure that Lady Bow was happy. After spending years in the mansion, he knew one thing about her that was very important: Lady Bow did NOT like visitors. The last visitor to come to the mansion was Mario, and only to save a Star Spirit by destroying a menace threatening to eat all of the boos! Admittedly, Lady Bow joined forces with Mario for the rest of his adventure, but as soon as it was over, she went back to her afterlife of solitude. So, when Bootler was checking up on Forever Forest, which was, as Lady Bow called it, "Her personal garden", he was quite surprised to find a little fox with two tails lying unconscious right outside the mansion. Even though he was worried about what Lady Bow might say, Bootler went to her room to report the intruder.

"Uh... Lady Bow?" Bootler nervously called into the room.

"What do you want?" Lady Bow sneered, glancing up from her book of Mushroom Kingdom Haunts, "I'm looking for a summer home right now."

"I need to report an intruder. He's"

"Don't tell me. Is he an animal?"

"Um... Why, yes. He's a fox. How'd you know?"

"Because," Bow explained, letting out a little snicker, "A bunch of boos found two animals lost in the woods the other day. It seems like the little furballs keep popping up lately."

"What!? How come I wasn't told about this?"

"There was no need to. Besides, it's not like we let them get away"

Bow then approached a curtained wall. Pulling the curtain aside, she revealed two framed portraits of Knuckles and Amy! Not only that, the portraits seemed to be... alive!

"They should consider themselves lucky." Bow hissed, an evil grin forming on her ghostly face "They could've lived the rest of their lives lost in those woods, but now they can spend eternity... INSIDE A PAINTING! BWA HA HA!!!"

* * *

Meanwhile, in a much more cheerful place, a little rabbit named Cream and her beloved chao, Cheese, were picking flowers.

"Oh, look at this one!" Cream cheered as she picked a golden yellow daffodil, "Mom will love this one, don't you think so, Cheese?"

"Chao! Chao!" Cheese replied.

Cream continued to pick flowers until she noticed Cheese suddenly flying around anxiously with a worried look on his face.

"What's wrong, Cheese?" Cream asked.

"Chao chao chao chao CHAO!" Cheese wailed, pointing.

Looking at where Cheese was pointing, Cream saw a pair of wiggling legs sticking out of the ground! Rushing over to them, Cream and Cheese each grabbed a leg and tried to pull whoever it was out. After a minute or so of pulling, the man came flying out... and landed right on top of Cheese.

"Ugh... What happened" The man mumbled before he noticed Cream, "Huh? HEY YOU! WHO THE HECK ARE YOU? WHAT'S GOIN' ON!?"

"Um," Cream stuttered, "I'm sorry Mr...?"

"Wario," The man grumbled, "And don't forget it!"

"Well then, I'm sorry Mr. Wario. My name's Cream and my pet chao, Cheese noticed you were stuck and we pulled you out, that's all."

"Cream... Cheese... Cream Cheese. How obnoxiously cute. Where's your little pet, anyway?"

"Um... You're sitting on him."

Glancing down, Wario noticed that he was sitting on something. Wario got up and let poor Cheese get out from underneath him. Grateful that he got out, Cheese started flying around Wario, singing a little song.

"Chao, chao, chao chao, chao chao, chao!" Cheese sang.

"Eh?" Wario grunted, "That's your pet? It's a freakin' Pokemon reject! That's it, I'm outta here!"

Wario started to storm off into the distance before Cream called to him.

"Wait, Mr. Wario!" Cream cried, "Do you even know where you're going?"

Wario stopped dead in his tracks. Turning around, Wario stormed back until he was face to face with Cream.

"First off," Wario demanded, "Stop calling me 'Mr. Wario'. It's just Wario, got that?"

"I sure do, Mr. Wario!" Cream replied cheerfully.

Wario smacked himself in the head before continuing.

"Second, I'm not letting you lead me ANYWHERE until you get rid of Freakachu!"

Upon mentioning him, Cheese flew up to Wario, hugged his arm, and wouldn't let go.

"What the... HEY!" Wario shouted as he shook his arm violently, trying to shake Cheese off, "What's with this thing!? I said I DON'T want this thing following me!"

"Maybe he knows you're just acting mean and that, deep down inside, you have a kind heart." Cream suggested.

"WHAT!? NO WAY! GET THIS THING OFF ME!"

Wario shook his arm even more and, eventually, he managed to fling Cheese off. After watching, with pleasure, Cheese land on the ground with a loud "thud", Wario turned his attention back to Cream.

"Listen, how 'bout you just give me a road map and I'll find my own way back to Diamond City."

"Diamond City? I've never seen that on any map."

"Aw, man... Don't tell me that I'm not near the Mushroom Kingdom..."

"Mushroom Kingdom? What's going on, Mr. Wario?"

"STOP CALLING ME MR. WARIO!!! I swear, you're worse then that blue hedgehog..."

"You know where Mr. Sonic is? I haven't seen him in a while and I'm worried that Eggman might capture my Mom again. Could you please take me to Mr. Sonic?"

"Way to go, Wario." Wario grumbled to himself, "Now this kid's never gonna leave you alone."

"Mr. Wario?"

"Listen, kid. Eggboy ain't in any position to kidnap your Mom again, so how about you wait here until that little blue fuzzball comes back, ok?"

"Wait! How do you know so much about Eggman?"

"Um... I got captured by him and escaped." Wario bluffed, using the same lie that he used on Knuckles, "Now just stay here and don't follow me, alright?"

"Well" Cream began, figuring that something was up, "If you aren't with Eggman and you know where Sonic is and you know that my Mom will be ok, then nothing bad will happen if I go with you! Right?"

"FINE! FINE! YOU WIN!" Wario yelled, completely at the end of his rope, "You and your Pokemon wannabe can come with me, but as soon as I get home, you're on your own!"

"Thank you, Mr. Wario!"

"Yeah, whatever. Are you coming, or what?"

Wario, Cream, and Cheese began walking in what Wario thought was the way to Diamond City, and only two of the three travelers were actually going to enjoy the trip...


	21. The Turtle and the Bat

The first thing Bowser heard after regaining consciousness was, "It's about time you woke up, Sugar."

When attempting to look around to see who would dare call the King of the Koopas "Sugar", Bowser noticed something else: He was tied up. After quite a struggle, Bowser finally managed to see his captor, and he really wished he hadn't, because it was a real ego-buster. Standing before Bowser was a very feminine, very sexy (though not to Bowser) bat. Not only that, she was hanging on the ceiling, or so Bowser thought.

"What the heck!?" Bowser shouted, "What's going on!? Well, speak up! Get down from that ceiling and explain yourself!"

"Well, Sugar," The bat began with a little grin on her face, "In reality, you're the one on the ceiling."

Looking "down", Bowser noticed that the bat was right. He was not only tied up, but also hanging upside-down! This only made him more enraged.

"HOW DARE YOU TREAT THE KING OF THE KOOPAS THIS WAY!!!" Bowser screamed, smoke pouring out his nostrils.

"Uh-huh, sure..." The bat replied sarcastically, "And I'm the Queen of Mobius. Listen, I can't let you interfere with my mission, so just 'hang' there and wait for me to come back, ok?"

At this point, if Bowser wasn't tied up, he would've slaughtered the insulting bat, but he was, so he couldn't. That's when Bowser realized he still had one attack he could use. As the bat began to walk away, Bowser inhaled a huge gulp of oxygen, and the air surrounding his mouth started to get warm. Then, aiming at the bat, he exhaled a humungous breath of fire! However, the bat was either psychic or somehow knew the attack was coming, because just as it was about to hit her, she jumped out of the way, cartwheeled towards Bowser, and kicked him in the jaw so hard, it knocked him like a punching bag upwards and he got his horns stuck in the ceiling!

"You're good," The bat muttered, "But I'm better."

"Aw, come on..." Bowser sobbed, embarrassed that he got his butt, or rather, his head, kicked by a girl, "At least let me know what's going on..."

"You really want to know, huh?" The bat asked as she pulled an ID tag out of her pocked and showed it to Bowser, "Fine, You win. I'm Rouge, the treasure hunter Rouge. Master thief and part-time government agent."

"Master thief and part-time government agent..." Bowser repeated, "So, one minute, you're fighting for your country, and the next, you're stealing from it?"

"Oh, shut up." Rouge grumbled, "Anyway, right now, I'm working for the government. They wanted me to go Space Colony ARK to..."

"Wait a second... Did you just say space colony?"

"Try looking behind you."

Turning around as much as he could, Bowser noticed that he was in some sort of observation deck and, right outside the window, was outer space. A good distance away was earth, which really freaked Bowser out since the last thing he could remember was being in his castle on that little sphere.

"Whah...?" Bowser stuttered, "W-what t-the h-heck!? How'd I get out here!?"

"That's what I want to know," Rouge replied, "I was looking for information that the government requested for me to receive when you just came crashing up though the floor like a rocket! You nearly caused the whole colony to blow up!"

"Well, sorrrry..." Bowser grunted, "But I really wasn't planning my day around getting blasted up into space either!"

"You got blasted up here?" Rouge asked with a weird look on her face.

"It was a big blast!"

"Right..." Rouge mumbled as she walked out the room.

"Hey, hold on!" Bowser shouted, "Aren't you gonna get me down from here!?"

"Oh, yeah. Let me think about it." Rouge replied sarcastically, "Ok, I thought about it. No."

"WHAT!?" Bowser roared, "I'M BOWSER! KING OF THE KOOPAS! AND I DEMAND YOU TO LET ME DOWN!"

"Hey!" Rouge shouted back, "You did enough damage to the ARK while you were unconscious! I don't even want to think about how much you'd do now! Goodbye!"

And with that, Rouge stormed out of the room. But, what Rouge didn't see was Bowser begin to make his own escape by breathing on the ropes binding him...

* * *

Even though the ARK was abandoned, the security robots were still active, making Rouge's job of infiltrating the ARK a wee bit more challenging. Fortunately, Rouge was a master thief just as she claimed, so getting by the robots was an easy task. Pretty soon, she was standing in front of the door leading to the main computer of the ARK.

"Well," Rouge began, "I got past the robots, the central computer is right here, and that stupid mutant turtle thing isn't slowing me down..."

"Care to repeat that?"

Turning around, Rouge saw Bowser standing right in front of her!

"What the..." Rouge yelled nervously, "How'd you escape? How'd you get past those GUN bots?..."

"Oh, you mean these bucketheads?" Bowser asked as he held up a charred robot head, "You mean these guys are supposed to be hard?"

"UGH! Never mind! Just stay put until I get the information I need!"

After yelling at Bowser, Rouge turned her attention to opening the security door separating her from the computer.

"Let's see here..." Rouge grumbled, punching on the keypad next to the door, "The code seems to be a numeral one, so it's usually some important date... Maybe 91385... No that isn't it... Perhaps it's 72691... No..."

Before she could try another code, Rouge heard a loud crashing sound. Glancing up, she saw that Bowser had dug his claws deep into the door and was in the process of pulling it right off its base.

"What?" Bowser grunted as he threw the door aside, "This place is abandoned. No one's gonna care if we trash it."

Rather than complain, Rouge simply walked into the computer room without saying a word.

The word "room" really didn't describe the area that housed the central computer. It was more like an abyss. All there was in the "room" was the main computer, which looked like a column of purple light in the middle of the room and with a holographic keyboard and monitor at eye level, and the catwalk connecting the computer to the entrance. The rest of the "room" was a giant abyss going too far down to see the bottom. Without slowing down at all, Rouge ran across the catwalk right up to the holographic computer. Bowser, however, had trouble squeezing between the rails on each side of the walk and had to walk really slowly to the computer. By the time he got there, Rouge was already hacking into the mainframe.

"I know what the password is this time." Rouge stated, giving Bowser an evil glare, "So you don't need to slash the computer."

"I never said I would!" Bowser shouted in defense.

"Uh, huh..." Rouge grumbled, turning her attention back to the computer, "Anyway... The password... Right... It's 'Ma-ri-a'... There we go! System hacked!"

"Maria?" Bowser questioned, "Interesting password. It's not something more menacing like 'Total World Domination' or 'Destroy all Humans' or 'Bowser is your King' or..."

Bowser immediately shut up when Rouge gave him another evil glare.

"Right then," Rouge growled, getting frustrated with Bowser, "I need to just open this file and I'll have all the information I need."

Suddenly, the monitor displayed a picture of a black hedgehog on the left side of the screen with what looked like a police file on the right.

"Just as I figured," Rouge sighed after looking over the report, "All it says is that 'Project Shadow' was created in an attempt to make the ultimate life form but was 'destroyed' when the ARK was shut down. That's it. Nothing else. Nothing about how he was captured by the government. Nothing about how he sacrificed himself to save the world. Nothing about how he was cloned as army drones... NOTHING!"

Noticing that Rouge was near hysteria, Bowser decided it was time to ask what was going on.

"Um, hey..." Bowser muttered, "This isn't a government mission, is it? This is personal, huh?"

"His name was Shadow," Rouge mumbled, "He was a friend, nothing more, but still a friend. When the ARK nearly collided with the earth, he used Chaos Control to send it back into orbit, but he didn't make it. Later, they started making clones of him to use as weapons. I met one of them and befriended him, but it just isn't the same..."

Rouge started to walk away sadly as Bowser took another look at Shadow.

"Say..." Bowser grumbled, "That Shadow guy looks familiar... Hey! I know! He was the guy Eggman let me borrow to try to get of Mario!"

Rouge suddenly stopped in her tracks, turned around, and had a look on her face even madder and scarier than her evil glare.

"You... Work... With... EGGMAN!?!?" Rouge screamed.

The only reply Bowser gave was putting his hands over his mouth realizing he said something really, really, bad.

That was all Rouge needed. She ran up to Bowser, upper-kicked him in his jaw, and knocked him right into the computer, electrocuting Bowser pretty badly. Rouge then grabbed the still dazed Bowser and threw him onto the catwalk, embedding the spikes on the back of his shell into the walk.

"Ugh..." Bowser moaned, embarrassed that he got his butt kicked by a girl... again... again, "I take it you don't like Eggman..."

"Let's just say that I've had bad experiences with him..." Rouge hissed, "So any friends of him are enemies of mine, and you fit that bill!"

Bowser tried to get up, but his spikes were dug to deep in the walk. Thinking quickly, since Rouge was running up to attack him again, Bowser reached up and clawed the walk above him in half, causing the catwalk to fall like a trapdoor. Rouge, obviously, fell down but, since Bowser's spikes were in the "trapdoor", he hung there, watching with pleasure Rouge falling to her death... almost.

As Bowser finally managed to pull his spikes out and began to climb back up, he felt something suddenly pull on his tail. Glancing down, Bowser noticed that Rouge had somehow managed grab his tail!

"What the..." Bowser growled, "I thought I got rid of you!"

"I'm a bat, you idiot." Rouge replied, "I can fly. Is that too hard of a concept to get through your thick skull?"

Soon, the fight started again and this time, Bowser finally managed to fight back. In the middle of all the kicking, clawing, flying, and fire breathing, Bowser noticed something rather urgent: The other half of the hanging catwalk was coming loose!

"Uh, hey, Rouge..." Bowser mumbled.

"Oh, shut up!" Rouge interrupted.

"Wait, Rouge, this is important..."

Rouge, again, didn't let Bowser finish. Instead, she grabbed him by the horns and began bashing his head repeatedly against the "catwall".

"ROUGE!" Bowser shouted at the top of his lungs, "YOU'RE KNOCKING THE CATWALK LOOSE!!! IF YOU DON'T STOP, YOU'RE GONNA..."

It was too late. The catwalk fell away, and Bowser and Rouge took a one-way trip to the bottom floor of Space Colony ARK.


	22. Revenge of Greatness that is Eggman's!

On a tiny island, far away from any real civilization, an unconscious Eggman was lying face down on the beach. When high tide came in, the waters splashed over Eggman's head, waking him up. After saving himself from nearly drowning, Eggman took a moment to survey his surroundings.

"Hmm..." Eggman grumbled, "This island... This is the perfect place to set up a secret base! From this island, I will produce my robots without anyone knowing and TAKE OVER THE... huh?"

In the middle of his world domination rant, Eggman noticed a little, short, fat, blue blob nudging his foot.

"What the... Who are you?"

"You call me Oho Jee," The blue blob muttered, "but me no know why."

"Well," Eggman began, "You can call me Dr. Robotnik, your new master and emperor of the entire world! BWA HA HA!!!"

"You nuts." The Oho Jee replied, "Me nuts. We all nuts."

"What do you know!?" Eggman shouted, "Get out of my sight!"

Eggman gave the Oho Jee a swift kick and sent it into the ocean. Concentrating on what he thought was more important things, Eggman started pacing back and forward until he noticed a ship in the far distance!

"If more of those Oho Jee things are driving that ship," Eggman mumbled to himself, "Surly they would be stupid enough to let me on and take me back to the Death Egg! HEY! WHOEVER'S DRIVING THAT BOAT! OVER HERE!!!"

Sure enough, the boat noticed him and came up to the beach, but it wasn't Oho Jees that were driving it. Instead, it was piloted by bean-like people who, upon seeing Eggman, looked a little worried. Suddenly, a group of armored beans jumped out of the ship and surrounded Eggman! Soon after, another bean, riding on some sort of flying cushion, flew out of the ship and approached Eggman. Before speaking, the bean tossed his hair back which, for some unexplainable reason, caused him to shine really brightly, nearly blinding Eggman.

"Dr. Robotnik, I presume?" The bean asked.

"Um, yes." Eggman replied, somewhat shocked that someone knew his real name, "And would you mind telling me why I'm surrounded by... beans?"

"Why, it's very simple. My name is Prince Peasley and, by order of Queen Bean of the Beanbean Kingdom, I hereby place you under arrest!"

"Under arrest!? Why!?"

"Perhaps THIS will clear things up!" Peasley shouted handing Eggman a piece of paper.

"'Attention all Beanbean Kingdom citizens,'" Eggman read, "'It has come to my awareness that a dangerous new foe who goes by the name of Dr. Robotnik...' Hey, there's someone else who knows my real name... 'Has begun threatening the Mushroom Kingdom. He has captured numerous yoshis and turned them into vicious robots. However, it appears that he has deserted his base on Yoshi's Island and has relocated somewhere else. If you happen to see him, you have my sincerest request to capture him and transport him to the Mushroom Kingdom for his trial. Sincerely, Princess Peach Toadstool.'!? What would make you think that any of that is true!?"

"She sent us a videotape that showed you torturing those poor yoshis," Peasley explained, "Not to mention that you blew the guy who was taping it into oblivion."

Eggman began seriously hating himself for letting Luigi escape with his life back on the Death Egg.

"Now then, guards, take him aboard the boat! We head back to Beanbean Castle Town immediately!"

"Yes, sir, Prince Peasley!" The guards replied.

Before Eggman was shoved below deck, Prince Peasley approached Eggman once more and, after tossing his hair back again and nearly blinding Eggman again, mentioned something that, for some reason, made Eggman worried.

"Don't worry about being in our dungeon," Peasley mocked, "You'll only be in there for about a day and, besides, I think you will be able to relate to your cell mate..."

* * *

While most of the Beanbean Kingdom was so cheerful that Eggman wanted to puke, the dungeon was a pretty scary place. There was no real lighting, except for one measly light bulb, making it very dark. Also, the dungeon, which was really just one big cell, was right next to the sewers, so lots of weird sounds were coming from outside. Naturally, Eggman wasn't happy when he was thrown in.

"How dare you treat me like this!?" Eggman shouted, "I am the great Dr. Robotnik! I AM YOUR RULER!!!"

"Oh, be quiet!" The guard locking the cell door demanded, "Save your breath for your trial, not that you're going to win anyway..."

Slumping down, Eggman watched as the guard walked off, twirling his keys around on his finger and whistling the Beanbean Kingdom's national anthem.

"I'm never gonna get outa here..." Eggman moaned.

"Ha ha ha!" Came a voice from the far end of the cell, which was covered in shadow, making it impossible to see who was laughing, "Your hopelessness sense humors me like one trying to build a time machine that is stupid!"

"Wha...?" Eggman muttered, "W-who's there? S-show yourself!"

Slowly, another bean citizen stepped out of the shadows, but this one looked different from the rest. He had a bald head except for one strand of hair, he was wearing a red cape, one a little frazzled at the bottom, and he was wearing spectacles, not unlike Eggman, except that his eyes looked like spirals though them. Suddenly, the little bean freak leaped through the air and landed right in front of Eggman.

"Standing in the spotlight at such a gala of spectacularity for one man but, I it is... The Fawful of great and powerfulness!"

"Uh..." Eggman trailed off, "Are you mentally ok?"

"Ok, I am!" Fawful replied, "But isn't, my master! Cackletta, the master of me of great evilness, was defeated defeatingly by the Mario Bros. whom I hate!"

"Hold on," Eggman requested, trying to piece together what Fawful was saying in normal English, "All I got was that you hate Mario..."

"Speak his name, do not! He is that my heart is full of hatredness for! Prevail, I will but! I HAVE FURY!!!"

Eggman really wished he could get out of here, even if it was just to another cell, but he couldn't. Without any other option, he continued to talk to the insane bean, ready to defend himself in case the bean got a little _too_ insane.

"So... what exactly happened to your master?"

"Her plains of spectacular proportions of great menaceingness were squashed like a creature of bugness under the shoe that was the Mario Bros.! Her spirit rose like air of hotness on the cold day that is death! Yet, hope there still is! Obtain, I must, the Beanstar! Its powers of amazingness can, my master, bring back! That will be the cherry on Cackletta's sundae of domination that is the world!"

"..."

"Your silence. Startling it is."

"You know..." Eggman began, an idea forming in his head, "I think I can help you under one condition."

"Of what conditioningness, is this condition that you speak of?"

"That you let me be your master until we bring 'Cackletta' back."

"Amazing, your offer is! Yes! For now, I shall, as the chocolate syrup of Cackletta's sundae of world dominationess, pour myself onto your sundae of assistingness! And once your sundae melts away into the puddle that is success, I shall tip the entire bowl onto Cackletta's sundae which is still in the freezer of postponingness! And then, the whole sundae will give the Beanbean Kingdom the brain freeze that is revenge! I HAVE FURY!!!"

"Uh... Right... Anyway, here's what we must do..."

* * *

The next day, Prince Peasley and a group of bean guards came down to the dungeon to bring Eggman to the Mushroom Kingdom for his trail.

"So, Dr. Robotnik," Peasley mockingly asked after doing his little hair shining trick for the third time, "Did you like your cell?"

Much to Peasley's surprise, Eggman actually replied.

"Sort of, but it's too hot down here!" Eggman complained, holding up a scrunched up piece of clothing, "I had to take my undershirt off!"

"Well, that's too bad, but don't worry. I'm sure that your cell in Princess Peach's Castle will be much cooler. Let's go."

Eggman stuffed his "undershirt" under his arm and was escorted out of the dungeons. As they were going through the upper hallways Eggman, while no one was looking, dropped his "undershirt" on the floor and watched as it ran off!

* * *

The "undershirt" started running through the castle, dodging the sight of the many beans walking by, until it entered one of the side rooms. Once inside, it stood up, revealing that it was none other than Fawful.

"Bwa ha ha!" Fawful laughed, "Their blindness is like that of a bat! The bat of ignorance! And now my tool of destruction is mine once again!"

Running up to the closet, Fawful opened the door to reveal his "tool of destruction": His jet-propelled, object-containing, bean-nuking headgear.

* * *

Eggman knew the plan worked when he heard explosions going off in the castle. Soon, Fawful came flying up, blasting every bean in sight. Obviously, the guards took their attention off of Eggman and tried to stop Fawful's rampage. This was Eggman's chance.

"Come on, Fawful!" Eggman shouted, "Let's get out of here!"

"Of course!" Fawful shouted back, "Now is not the time for their brain freeze of revenge! Let us flee!"

Soon, all of Beanbean Castle Town was in an uproar. Fawful was getting all trigger-happy with his headgear, blowing all the houses to pieces. Meanwhile, Eggman was just concentrating of getting out alive. Eventually, both of them managed to succeed in their goals.

"Ugh," Eggman mumbled, looking back at the wreckage, "Talk about overkill."

"Ha!" Fawful laughed, "That was only the bowl of the sundae of our plans! We now need the ice cream that is our base followed by the sprinkles that is the evilness!"

"Oh yeah, the base..." Eggman trailed off, realizing that his base was currently a wreck, "Hold on just a sec. I'll be right back."

And Eggman ran off to the nearest pay phone, urgently trying to contact his abandoned base.

* * *

When Eggman dumped the Death Egg in favor of Bowser's Castle, the only robot of any merit he left behind was Grounder, who was currently sitting at Eggman's desk, enjoying his moment of glory... At least, he enjoyed it until the phone rang. Nervously, he answered it only to find out it was Eggman.

"Hello!" Eggman shouted on the other end, "Who is this?"

"Ack! Uh... Eggma... I mean, Dr. Robotnik!" Grounder stuttered, "What a pleasant surprise! It's me, Grounder! Where have you been?"

"Don't ask. Listen, I need you bring everything that can fit on the Egg Carrier over to were I am! Here are the coordinates..."

Grounder quickly jotted down the coordinates as Eggman rambled them off. He was just about to hang up and begin packing when Eggman started talking again.

"Oh, and one more thing, Grounder." Eggman began.

"Uh, yeah?"

"Bring the Mean Bean-Steaming Machine."


	23. Legend of the Emerald Stars

Even after checking all of Angel Island and the Mystic Ruins, Team Chaotix could not find Professor E. Gadd. When they returned to Mario, who was waiting at the train station, to report absolutely nothing, he was rather annoyed.

"You couldn't find Gadd?" Mario asked, shocked, "Did you check everywhere?"

"Heck, yeah!" Charmy moaned, "And now my wings are sore."

"Why can't your mouth ever be?" Espio asked sarcastically.

"Hey, guys, knock it off!" Vector yelled before turning back to Mario, "Um, yeah... The only place we didn't look was in the huge rainforest south of here, but only a lunatic would go back there. Aside from that, we checked everywhere and didn't find him."

"I don't know..." Mario pondered, "Gadd has a tendency of doing stupid things that turn out to be brilliant in the end. You should probably check there, too."

"Hmph," Espio grunted, "I believe Vector told us to go back there once before. Remember what happened, Charmy?"

"Oh yeah!" Charmy yelled, "That was the time when you told me that Venus fly trap was a warp flower and I said 'No it isn't. That's a Venus fly trap.' And you tried to prove it by jumping in it and..."

Charmy was cut short by a hand over his mouth courtesy of Espio, obviously not expecting Charmy to start telling THAT story.

"Well," Mario began, "If you're worried about it, I'll come with you. I was getting bored just sitting here anyway."

"I wouldn't mind going in there alone." Vector stated, "It's just that I didn't want to go with only those two..."

Turning around, Vector observed as Espio and Charmy began yelling at each other... loudly.

"Spine nose!"

"Bumble butt!"

"Ninja freak!"

"Runny-nosed brat!"

Mario and Vector decided it was best if they just left the two arguing and went looking for Gadd in the rainforest by themselves. As they walked off, Mario took one last look at the two "detectives" fighting. It was amazing how Charmy was so annoying, he could even drive the quiet and sarcastic Espio over the edge and make him sound just as immature. Apparently, Vector, even though he was as big a loudmouth as Charmy, had more experience handling him than Espio did.

"Dare I ask," Mario mumbled, "How you can handle Charmy and Espio can't?"

"Simple," Vector replied, "Charmy hit Espio's weak point: His ego."

"Ah..."

After a little more walking, the two finally reached the rainforest, where they hoped to find Gadd. But, unbeknownst to them, they were going to find just about everything _except _Gadd...

* * *

"Are you ok?"

Sonic opened his eyes, trying to see who was talking to him. Unfortunately, everything was blurry. Noticing that his head was throbbing, Sonic figured that he must've got his brains bashed around after that explosion. He squinted to try and see who it was exactly that was talking to him, but it didn't help too much. All he could see was a giant pink blur. Then, the pink blur began speaking again.

"Thank goodness you're alright. You had us all worried for a while. We didn't think you were going to make it."

"Ugh... Yeah..." Sonic mumbled as a reply, thinking he knew who it was that was talking to him, "Thanks for caring,  
Amy."

"Amy? Who's Amy?" The blur questioned as Sonic began to regain focus and realize it wasn't Amy who was talking to him at all, "I'm Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom."

"Whoa! Sorry 'bout that!" Sonic shouted as he finally came fully to.

Glancing around, Sonic noticed that he was in some sort of guest room. The walls were painted a bright sky blue color and the base of them was a grassy green, kind of like a landscape painting all around the room. Looking down at what he was resting on, he saw it was a plush (not to mention super comfortable) red sofa. After looking around, Sonic returned his attention to Peach, who noticed that he was glancing at everything puzzlingly.

"I suppose you don't know what's going on, do you?" Peach asked, "After all, I haven't seen you before, so I doubt you're from around here."

"Yeah..." Sonic replied, "The last thing I remember was fighting Eggman and that Bowser freak with Mario..."

"Wait a second... You know where Mario is!?"

Before Sonic could reply, the door opened, and in stepped an odd looking old man. He was rather short, only up to about Peach's waist, and he was holding a walking cane, more for show than for use. But the oddest part about him was that his head was shaped like a mushroom! The dome on his head even had little brown spots all over it! He ran as fast as his little legs (if he even had legs) carried him over to Peach and began reporting something to her.

"Princess!" The old 'shroom yelled, "I have made an important discovery on that crystalline Eldstar we found! It seems that..."

"Whoa! Hold on there, old man!" Sonic interrupted, "You found one of those Emerald Star things Eggman was talking about?"

Sonic's only reply was a whack over the head with the old man's cane.

"Hmph!" the 'shroom grumbled, "Looks like our drowned rodent is a juvenile delinquent! No respect for their elders! 'Old man'!? You little troublemaker! I should spank you until you're red in the tush..."

"Now, Toadsworth," Peach requested, "Calm down. Something tells me he knows what's going on."

"Well, fine!" Toadsworth replied, looking back at Sonic, "You! Speak up! What's going on?"

"Hey!" Sonic shouted back, "You first! Where's the Emerald Star?"

Sonic and Toadsworth began shouting at each other, much to Peach's dismay. She keep trying to break the argument up, but to no avail. Soon, she got so annoyed that she pulled a frying pan out of her purse and whacked both Sonic and Toadsworth over the head to get them quiet.

"Alright, both of you!" Peach yelled, "One at a time! First off..." She turned to Sonic, "What's your name? I don't believe you have told me yet."

"It's Sonic." Sonic replied, still rubbing his head from both the cane and the frying pan blow.

"Well then, Sonic, you said you were with Mario, fighting Bowser and some guy named Eggman. Where is he now?"

"Oh yeah... That's right... Eggman fused the Chaos Emeralds with... I think you call them 'Star Spirits'... and that caused a massive explosion. So, um, yeah... I think Mario is probably half way around the world by now."

Before Peach could question Sonic more, Toadsworth interrupted.

"Hold on just a second!" Toadsworth cried, "That's what I've been trying to tell you about, Princess! I know some more information about that 'Emerald Star' we found!"

"Alright, Toadsworth!" Peach groaned impatiently, "Sorry, Sonic. Toadsworth seems to really want to inform me on something."

"Well..." Toadsworth grumbled, "If this rodent has direct ties to what's going on, I suppose I'll let him listen up. Come on, everyone!" Toadsworth shouted as walked out the door, "To the library!"

* * *

Princess Peach's library was, quite simply, huge. The entire room, which was about the size of a cathedral, was practically wallpapered in bookshelves. As Sonic looked around, nearly getting vertigo from looking up, Toadsworth pulled a dusty old book out from one of the many bookselves. The book was leather bound and in gold print on the cover was the words LEGENDS OF THE MUSHROOM KINGDOM.

"Here we go," Toadsworth grunted as he carried the heavy book over to a table, "After hours of research, I think I've finally found the answer to our riddle."

Sonic wasn't really paying attention. He noticed an Emerald Star sitting in a glass case in the middle of the library and was running towards it.

"Hey! Hold on!" Toadsworth shouted, "Don't go near that! If you do..."

Too late. As soon as Sonic touched the case, a volley of fireballs suddenly rained down from the ceiling, torching Sonic. Luckily, Sonic managed to run out of the way in time so that he didn't burn up completely, just partially.

"I rigged that case with twenty fire flowers..." Toadsworth mumbled, looking at the burnt up and ticked off Sonic, "You know, for security reasons..."

"Right..." Sonic grumbled, dusting the ash off his fur, "Just tell me about this 'amazing research' you've been doing."

"Well, then," Toadsworth began, opening the book to the appropriate page, "In this book, I found an old legend that was told when the grandfather of my grandfather's grandfather was just a little child. It goes like this:

_Two distinct worlds reside on one planet. Both worlds contained magical artifacts, divided into groups of seven, which served as the yin and yang of the planet. _

_One group, the Seven Star Spirits resided in the world full of harmony, where everyone lived at peace with each other. Thus, they were the yin, they could not be used for evil and brought joy and happiness to the planet._

_Yet, there was also the yang. In the world full of turmoil, where everyone thrived for power at any cost, with only a selected few trying to preserve the peace, seven emeralds, Chaos Emeralds, lied. They knew no good or evil, so the people fought for these emeralds for the ultimate power, but these emeralds usually let to their destruction. These Chaos Emeralds are the Yang of the planet, threatening to destroy the world at any moment due the inhabitants' lust for power._

_There will come a time when the yin and yang will meet and combine into one. Then, it will be the ultimate battle between the good and evil of both the worlds for these Emerald Stars. If good wins, there will be peace for all, even those in the world full of turmoil. But if evil wins, the sinister power the evil will place on the Emerald Stars will be so great, it will lead to total destruction of the planet._

Don't you see? This legend is coming true! If Bowser and that Egg guy get their hands on the Emerald Stars, we're all doomed!"

"Interesting story, old man." Sonic replied, "I'm guessing my world is the one full of turmoil, since it seems like I never get a day off from some guy trying to conquer the world, even if it isn't EggMAN doing the conquering."

"Say," Peach asked, "Who is Eggman anyway? Is he in any way related to a guy by the name of Dr. Robotnik?"

"Oh yeah... They're one and the same. We just call him Eggman since he hates that."

"Oh..." Peach moaned.

"What?"

"He was the one who was turning the yoshis into robots."

"Yeah, Mario was telling me about that. Did anything happen since he started doing that?"

"What happened? What happened!? I'll tell you what happened!" Toadsworth shouted, "We went to Yoshi's Island to evacuate the remanding yoshis before anything happened to them when we were attacked by those yoshi-bots! Our mushroom recruits tried their hardest to stop them but, in the end, most of them were captured too."

"Aw, gee, that's pretty bad..." Sonic replied, "Especially since you've never dealt with Eggman's robots before."

"Something really interesting happened, though." Peach began, "Right as we were about to retreat with the yoshis we had, another yoshi jumped on board. Oddly enough, he was able to speak English. That's when he told us that he had escaped from that Death Egg thing while Eggman was in the middle of roboticizing him, hence his ability to speak."

"Where is he now?"

"He requested that we lock him up in one of the guest rooms in the castle." Peach explained, "He said he was afraid that, since he was half roboticized, his robot half might try and attack us."

"I see..." Sonic grumbled, "I'd like to see him, if you don't mind."

"Absolutely not!" Toadsworth demanded, "I will not do anything that might harm the Princess!"

"Hey, relax old man! I know what I'm doing! I once had a friend who had the same problem, and she turned out fine. In fact, she was able to use her robot limbs to her advantage."

"Even so..." Toadsworth began as he turned towards Peach, "You mustn't believe what this rodent is saying, Princess! Your life could be in danger!"

"I trust in him, Toadsworth," Peach replied, "Besides, I haven't seen that yoshi do anything bad yet."

"What the... Grr... Fine! Be that way!" Toadsworth grumbled as he turned back to Sonic, "But if anything happens to the Princess, I'm holding you responsible!"

"Whatever you say, old man." Sonic answered as he walked out the door, looking for where the yoshi was being kept, "Just keep in mind something has to happen before you can blame me."

* * *

Peach led Sonic (and a complaining Toadsworth) through the castle hallways until they reached a hallway with two doors parallel to each other.

"He's in the room on the left." Peach said, pointing, "Please be careful."

"WHAT!? That's what I've been trying to tell YOU!" Toadsworth yelled, "Why would you care what happens to that rodent!?"

"When are you going to stop calling me rodent?" Sonic asked.

"At about the same time you stop calling me 'old man'." Toadsworth replied.

"Ah, well. Guess that's never gonna happen..." Sonic quipped as he went in the room where the yoshi was.

The room looked just like the one that Sonic was in when he came to, except that, huddled in a corner, a poor yoshi was crying. He looked normal at first, he was a dark blue yoshi, almost the same color blue as Sonic, but when Sonic approached him, he stood up, revealing that he was indeed half robot. His entire waist down was robotic, except for his left leg. Also, his left arm was robotic (fortunately, that wasn't the arm with the bazooka) and his right eye was robotic also. When Sonic tried to talk to him, he immediately backed up and tired to ward Sonic off.

"S-stay b-back..." The poor yoshi stuttered, "I-I don't want to do anything bad to you..."

"Hey, relax kiddo..." Sonic said comfortingly, "I've seen this thing before. You're going to be alright."

"B-but I'm half robot. Isn't that dangerous?..."

"A little. Dr. Robotnik, or Eggman as I like to call him, might be able to track you down since you're sorta a member of his army, but as long as you still have your free will, you don't have to worry about not being able to control your robotic limbs."

"I don't?"

"Nope."

"Well, I guess that's a _little _relief..." The yoshi sighed, "But I'd still rather be a yoshi than a robot..."

"I can fix that."

"You can!?"

"Sure just stay right there!"

Sonic walked out of the room and entered the guest room right across the hall. Looking back, he could see the yoshi standing all the way in the back of the other room. Suddenly, Sonic ran out of the other room and through the hallway super fast, causing both a dumbfounded Peach and Toadsworth to spin around in place as he ran by. When he got in the other room, Sonic curled up into a spiky ball and, without warning, rammed right into the petrified yoshi, resulting in a defining explosion! When Peach and Toadsworth ran in after Sonic, what they saw was amazing. Apparently, Sonic had rammed the yoshi so hard, he knocked the robotic armor right off him! As the yoshi did a little dance of joy on a pile of robotic parts, singing a song in his normal yoshi-speak, Sonic walked right by a shocked Peach and a stuttering Toadsworth.

"What the... How did you... How could you..." Toadsworth sputtered.

"It's just a thing I mastered," Sonic explained rather boastfully, "That's why I'm called Sonic, you know!"

"Well then..." Toadsworth grumbled, "What do say, Princess? Princess?"

Peach stood there, silently.

"Princess?"

"Toadsworth," Peach began, "I think we've found our secret weapon."


	24. Sidekick Courage

There was no doubt about it. The ruins Big directed Luigi to were the same ones that were in Luigi's nightmares. Luigi wandered around in the ancient courtyard, looking for anything that might explain his visions. After an hour of searching, Luigi began to give up.

"Aw man..." Luigi whined as he leaned against one of the city walls, "There just isn't anything here that could prove helpful... eh? What's this?"

Luigi glanced down at the bottom of the wall and noticed an ancient drawing. It showed the city in flames with a monster looming over it. Closer inspection revealed it could be but one monster: Giga Bowser. Below the picture, there was a small amount of writing, but Luigi couldn't read it. Looking at the pictures surrounding it, Luigi saw that they depicted the city getting destroyed by various other monstrosities, including a tiny robot-like thing and a giant waterish looking demon.

"So, Bowser isn't the only one who wrecked this place." Luigi mumbled, "I wonder if those other things have something in common with Bowser..."

Satisfied with his findings, Luigi began to leave the ruins. As he turned back to look at the ruins one last time, he noticed giant spotlight beams shooting out from something behind them. Luigi walked back through the ruins and saw what looked like a giant factory at the bottom of a cliff right behind the ruins! In fact, it looked a whole lot like the Death Egg!

"Say, is that another one of Eggman's headquarters? He certainly didn't build that since that whole 'Emerald Star' fiasco. I bet he wouldn't mind if I dropped by and see what's inside. After all, it's probably abandoned and there's probably some important information inside..."

Mustering up all the courage he had inside him (which really isn't a lot, but Luigi wanted to prove to himself that he wasn't a complete coward), Luigi walked toward the glass tube bridge that connected the ruins to the base, unaware that there was quite a few robots inside ready to prove to him that it wasn't abandoned at all...

* * *

When Tails came to, he wasn't really welcomed back to reality. The first thing he noticed was the fact he was in a creepy forest, which was unsettling enough. Then, he noticed the spooky mansion standing prominently in front of him, which really freaked him out.

"Gulp... W-Where a-am I?..." Tails stuttered, "T-The last thing I remember was those 'Emerald Stars' causing a massive explosion... YIKES!!!"

Tails looked up and noticed that someone was watching him from the third floor window of the mansion!

"Um... I know!" Tails exclaimed, trying to keep himself sane, "I bet that's the person who owns this mansion! Maybe he will help me out if I ask him!"

Nervously, Tails approached the mansion's doors. As he was about to use the huge iron doorknockers, the doors opened by themselves. Tails was fine until he noticed that no one inside had opened them!

"Erm... They must be automatic, that's all. Heh, heh..."

As he went inside, Tails tried to look for the "owner" of the decrepit mansion, but with no avail. He was about to turn and leave (and he would have been glad to) when he heard voices upstairs, and they sounded familiar, too!

"K-Knuckles?" Tails shouted, "A-Amy? I-Is that you? Hold on guys! I'm coming!"

Tails ran up to the stairs that led to the third floor, when he felt something brush against his two tails! Tails' heart skipped a beat and his fur shot up as he whirled around to see what touched him, but there was noticed nothing behind him.

"M-Must just be me..." Tails mumbled as he bushed his fur down, "Gotta stop jumping at everything... Gotta keep calm..."

As he climbed the stairs, Tails keep telling himself that nothing was wrong.

"Heh... Nothing's wrong... Nothing's wrong..."

It didn't work too well. Halfway up the stairs, Tails heard something laugh evilly!

"Gulp... Just drown out the noice... La, la, la... I wanna fly high... La, la, la... So I can reach the highest of... WAH!!!"

Suddenly, a whole chorus of evil laughs drowned out Tails' attempt of singing! Tails raced up the rest of the stairs and soon he was standing in front of a set of double doors on the third floor that he thought was where he heard Knuckles and Amy... Not that he could hear them now with all the laughing. As soon as he reached them, the laughing stopped and, when Tails looked around, he couldn't see anyone who could have been laughing.

"Ok..." Tails shuttered, "That was weird. Maybe it was just my imagination..."

Turning his attention back to the door, Tails could, once again, hear what sounded like Knuckles and Amy! Heart racing, Tails put his hand on the doorknob and slowly opened the door...

* * *

The first thing Luigi noticed when he walked inside the base was that it was pitch black. He couldn't even see his hand in front of his own face.

"Oh, great..." Luigi grumbled, "Ol' Eggman must've shut the power off in here or something. Not to worry, I've got my trusty flashlight somewhere in here..."

Luigi took his hat off (after nearly gorging his own eye out because he couldn't see a dang thing) and fumbled around for a flashlight which he had apparently kept in it. After pulling out a plunger, a fire flower, and a few other things that Luigi somehow managed to cram in his hat, he pulled out what he was looking for: His flashlight. He did a little victory dance, and turned the flashlight on. He probably should've left it off, because the first thing he saw was a robot looking straight at him! It looked like Sonic, but it was a whole lot more sinister looking and, yeah, its blood red eyes were looking right at Luigi. Luigi completely freaked out and fell to the floor, keeping his flashlight pointing right at the Sonic robot to make sure it didn't attack. That was when Luigi realized something: The robot was being held in a tank!

"Oh..." Luigi awed, a little embarrassed, "I guess he's deactivated, thank goodness. I wonder why his eyes are 'on', though. Must just be for intimidation, or something."

Suddenly, Luigi noticed a spark go off somewhere below him. Shining his flashlight at the spark, he saw a fuse box on the frizz.

"Ah, I get it!" Luigi exclaimed, "Eggman didn't shut the facility down, it just short circuited! So, if I cast Thunderpalm on that thing, maybe..."

Luigi walked towards the circuit breaker when, suddenly, Luigi lost his footing and fell down a floor and went "boom" on the ground. Looking back at where he fell from, Luigi saw that he had missed the first steep in a flight of stairs.

"Geez... I'm a klutz. Now, about that fuse box..."

Luigi approached the fuse box and, sticking his hand right in front of the box, gave the fuse a jump-start with his Thunderpalm. Just as he suspected, the lights turned on and the base came to life. Fortunately, none of the robots, not even the Sonic one, turned on.

"Oh, yeah!" Luigi cheered, "Who's number one now? Luigi! Hey, look at that!"

Luigi noticed a computer right across the room from him that had booted up automatically. Luigi walked up to the computer and watched as it began the log-in procedure.

"WELCOME TO EGGMAN'S PERSONAL DIARY." The computer stated, "PLEASE ENTER PASSWORD."

"Eggman's diary, huh? That's got to have some important stuff on it. Now... Think, Luigi, think! What could the password be?"

Luigi began pounding random passwords into the computer, none of them working. What he didn't know, however, was that when he reactivated the base, one robot _did_ turn on, and it was watching Luigi's every move...

* * *

Tails slowly pushed the doors open and glanced inside. It looked like a bedroom, but that wasn't what Tails was concerned about. On the far wall were portraits of Knuckles and Amy... and they were the ones that were shouting!

"KNUCKLES! AMY!" Tails yelled, running into the room, "WHAT HAPPENED!?!?"

"Tails!" Amy shrieked, "Get out of here while you still can!"

"Wait!" Knuckles shouted, "Don't let the door..."

Too late. The door slammed shut as soon as Tails stepped in the room. Tails watched in horror as some sort of dark force began webbing out from the doorknobs until the whole door was sealed with the demonic web. As Tails watched the webbing pulse with black energy, he felt someone tap on his shoulder. Praying that it was either Knuckles or Amy, Tails turned around and saw that it was neither. Instead, it was a green, female ghost! Slowly, it floated right up to Tails face and stared him straight in the eye.

"Boo."

"WAHHH!!!" Tails screamed as he tried to run away. Unfortunately, the ghost grabbed him by his tails, keeping him in one place.

"So, another intruder, hmm?" The ghost hissed, "I, Lady Bow, don't like uninvited guests."

"Wh-What did you d-do to my fr-friends?" Tails shuttered.

"Oh, nothing much. I just trapped them in portraits. Being dead and all, I like, shall we say, 'lively' art. And, I'm proud to announce my newest piece of artwork..."

Bow pulled off another part of the curtained wall to reveal an empty picture frame. Suddenly, a vortex started to form in the painting and Tails felt himself being pulled in!

"YOU!!!" She finished as Tails finally realized what was going on.

Franticly, Tails tried to run away from the portrait and towards the door. Tails ran as fast as he could, even trying to give himself an extra boost by using his twin tails as a motor.

"Almost... There..." Tails moaned as he approached the door, channeling all his energy into running "I... Can... Almost... Reach... The... Doorknob..."

But as soon as Tails touched the doorknob, all the pulsing black energy surrounding the door rushed right into Tails hand. He felt an unearthly pain as the satanic electricity paralyzed his body and blasted him backward. Since he was already being sucked backwards, the blast simply hurried along his inevitable fate, and Tails was quickly swallowed by the painting. As soon as he regained his footing, he tried to escape the painting, but to no avail: It was like walking into a brick wall. Soon, he was resorting to pounding on the portrait wall, just like Knuckles and Amy were doing, and watch Lady Bow laugh at their sorrow.

"Ha! Now that I think about it, the pink rat mentioned something about a blue hedgehog saving her..." Bow mused, "I'd love to meet him... And trap _him_ in a painting! That way, my collection will truly be complete! BWA HA HA!!!"

* * *

Pretty soon, Luigi had resorted to bashing his head against the keyboard to decide what password to try. He had tried everything from "Eggman" to "Sonic is a Dork", none of them working. When he found out that bashing random letters on the keyboard with his head wasn't getting him anywhere, he tried abbreviations, which also didn't work.

"Aw, come on!" Luigi yelled, not really caring that the computer wasn't listening, "Why won't anything work!? N64? No! DS? NO! SNES? NO!!! NOTHING WORKS!!!"

Luigi began pounding the keyboard with his fists in rage, when suddenly, the computer replied.

"PASSWORD ACCEPTED. WELCOME, DR. ROBOTNIK."

"Huh? I got it!? What did I put in?"

Luigi glanced at the screen and, along with a list of diary entries, was the password.

"The password was 'Genesis'? What kind of password is that!? Oh well, I got in, so lets see what could prove useful."

Luigi scrolled through all the entries and looked for ones that sounded useful. The first one that caught his attention was titled "Ancient Monster". Hoping that it might refer to Giga Bowser, Luigi began reading it:

_HA! I am a genius! I managed to resurrect the monster that destroyed the ancient echidna tribe! Unfortunately, it doesn't talk much. So much for getting a social life... Anyway, the ancient tablets called the monster "Chaos" so it obviously has some sort of connection to the Chaos Emeralds. Maybe I can use this watery menace to wipe out Sonic for good! HA!_

"Watery menace, eh?" Luigi wondered, "That's one of Bowser's buddies in that drawing. So those guys all must have something to do with wrecking that city. I wonder what else there is..."

The next entry that caught his attention was "Some Ultimate Weapon..." and Luigi began reading that one:

_There's another evil scheme down the drain. Not only did I nearly destroy the world rather than conquer it, but I also lost the so-called "Ultimate Weapon". Not that it was that good. It went soft and started working with Sonic, not with me! At least it's dead now, it killed itself to save the world. The last thing I want is TWO hedgehogs out to get me..._

"Two hedgehogs? That Ultimate Weapon thingy was a hedgehog? That might prove helpful. What else is here?"

Another entry he noticed was "Stupid Robot!":

_What the heck!? Sonic managed to form a "link" with the Gizoid! I found the thing, I should have a link with it, not Sonic! I've got to get it back before Sonic feds that robot all seven Chaos Emeralds, otherwise, I'm in trouble!_

"Robot!? That was in the mural, too! I've got it! Giga Bowser, Chaos, and the Gizoid all got powered up by those Chaos Emeralds! And if we now have Emerald STARS, that could be real trouble if Bowser found them! I need to get this to Mario, fast!"

Luigi noticed a pile of blank CDs next to him and, without a moment of hesitation, grabbed one of them and put it in the computer.

"Gotta burn this. Gotta burn this..." Luigi mumbled to himself.

Unbeknown to Luigi, a robot was watching him from above. It observed him as he burned the CD, and it didn't like it one little bit. The robot began computing to itself:

**BeginScan of _Unknown_ AtCoordinates 61-84-25;**

**Loading...**

**Subject unidentifiable;**

**AlternateSolutionSearch Begin;**

**Loading...**

**Solution: Delete _Unknown_;**

**Delete _Unknown_ Begin;**

The robot then held up its arm, and its hand retracted inside to reveal the barrel of a bazooka. It took aim at Luigi and fired...

Fortunately, Luigi had, at that moment, bent down to remove the burned CD from the disk drive. After grabbing it, he heard a loud explosion and got blasted back into the stairs. After recovering from the shock, he looked around, but he couldn't see anyone.

"Woah..." Luigi mumbled, "Some security system for that computer. It's a literal firewall! At least the CD's ok. Now I've got to get out of here!"

Luigi ran up the stairs and raced towards the door. Just as he was about reach it, Luigi, not looking at where he was going since he was taking a quick glance at the CD, ran into something hard and bounced backward and landed on his butt. Luigi was terrified at what was before him. It was a giant robot, and it wasn't inside a glass tube.

The robot, just like Eggrobo, had its head directly mounted on its huge center and it had small feet. However, its main colors were red and black and its arms were HUGE. One hand had sharp, pointy fingers and the other was missing, but smoke was coming out of the arm (Luigi realized this was the guy who tried to blow him up moments earlier). The only sign of a name was that, on its shoulders, was a Latin symbol: Omega. The robot, rather than finishing Luigi off, began computing out loud:

**SubjectCapture Complete;**

**ReviewOf PreviousActivation Begin;**

**Loading...**

**_E-123_ and _Ultimate Lifeform_: Delete _AllRobots_ AtCordinates (50-70)-(70-100)-(0-50);**

**_Robotnik _CaptureOf _E-123_ and _Ultimate Lifeform_;**

**_Ultimate Lifeform_ Location X-Y-Z;**

**_E-123_ Deactivated;**

**_E-123_ ReactivatedBy Unknown;**

**ReviewEnd;**

**ReasonOf _CourseOfAction_ by _Unknown_ Begin;**

**Loading...**

**1. ToSave _E-123_;**

**Probability: Low;**

**2. ForUseBy _Robotnik_;**

**Probability: High;**

**ReasonOfEnd;**

**Solution - Delete _Unknown_;**

**Delete _Unknown_ Begin;**

Luigi knew what was coming. He leaped out of the way as the robot blew up the ground right where he was two seconds ago. Soon, a cat-and-mouse chase began as Luigi ran around the upper level of the base with the robot (which Luigi figured was either called "E-123" or "Omega". Or both) chasing right behind him. While the robot had some upper-end weapons on him, he didn't seem to know how to aim properly, since he was blowing just about everything up _except_ Luigi. Luigi took advantage of this and, after the robot blew the door to the glass bridge up, ran down the bridge to get away from him and back to the ruins. This worked out well... until one of the robot's wayward shots cracked the glass! Luigi was only a few feet from the exit when the entire glass bridge shattered underneath him! However, the momentum from his running was enough to propel Luigi forward enough to _just_ grab onto the edge of the cliff! After he pulled himself up Luigi looked back at the base. The glass bridge was gone, and the robot was nowhere to be seen.

"Ha, ha!" Luigi laughed, "Thought you could get me, huh? Well, I got the data, I got my life, and you don't have squat! Go Luigi! Go Luigi!"

Luigi danced off into the jungle, happy about his accomplishments. However, the robot _wasn't _gone, and it was still bent on "deleting" Luigi...

Editor's Note: Sorry I took so long to update. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is very hard to put down. Anyway, just a question for my readers: Should I include those Sonic Comic/Cartoon characters? They seem rather popular, but I don't read the comics or watch the TV shows, I just play the games. If you want me to include them, send me MAJOR info on the MAJOR characters, like their personality, strenghts, relationships, etc. Please don't direct me to the SonicHQ website, I know it exsits and will only use it if I get desprate (Since they cover _everything _about _everyone_ that ever appeared. I don't need that much info!). Thanks.


	25. Road Trip!

"Oh, hold on, Mr. Wario. I want to see something real quick."

Wario moaned as Cream managed to delay his journey... again. She had constantly stopped him before to pick some flowers, and Wario was getting really frustrated. Realizing that pounding the little kid into the ground was not a very good idea since she knew Sonic, who kicked his butt the last time he met him, Wario keep his anger to himself and simply began talking to her in his normal cranky way.

"What is it now? Not that I care..."

"Well," Cream began, "I'm not about to go on an adventure with someone I hardly know without telling my mom first, and since my house is right over there, it'll be quick, I promise."

"Grumble... Fine. But if you're still in there after five minutes, I'm going on my own!"

"Ok. Thanks, Mr. Wario!"

Wario watched in disgust as Cream pranced over to her house, which looked like something out of a child's picture book and made him want to puke. The house was a quaint cottage with a garden out front, and was painted an obnoxiously bright yellow. In fact, it looked kind of like Mario's house, only even more cute. This caused Wario to complain to himself even more about why he was letting Cream accompany him on his trip.

"Grr... Stupid kid..." Wario grumbled, "Why am I letting her join me? 'I wanna go on an adventure!' Bleh... Stupid rabbit, trips are for grownups! Why, I oughta..."

"Chao?"

Wario whirled around and noticed that Cheese hadn't gone inside the house with Cream, and was eavesdropping on Wario!

"Wah! I thought you were... I mean... What do you want, punk?"

Cheese tried to talk to Wario, but since Wario couldn't understand anything said by animals that only say variations of their own name, Cheese couldn't get through to him.

"Chao, chao chao, chao, CHAO!" Cheese cried.

"Eh, what? I don't understand Pokemon, you freak! Try talking in normal English!"

"Chao chao, chao, chao chao, CHAO!"

Wario was beginning to fume at Cheese's attempt at talking. Running out of patience, Wario grabbed Cheese by his big blue head, and stuffed him in a garbage can conveniently located right next to Wario (apparently, the garbage man came all the way out here to collect trash). Wario slammed the lid on the can and watched with pleasure as Cheese began banging against the sides of the trash can trying to get out. Wario's joy ended abruptly, however, when he turned around and noticed a rather upset Cream!

"Oh! Um, heh... Hiya there, Cream!" Wario muttered nervously, "Nice day isn't it?... gulp..."

Cream keep looking at Wario with giant, cute, "puppy-dog" eyes that were on the verge of breaking down in tears. They were so cute, in fact, that they even caused Wario to give in.

"Aw, geez... Ok! I admit it!" Wario shouted, throwing the lid off the garbage can, "Your pet was getting on my nerves, so I stuffed it in the can! Gimme a break, it was annoying!"

Cheese flew out of the garbage can and hugged Cream. Aggravating to Wario was the fact that Cream immediately cheered up when she hugged Cheese, making him feel like a world-class loser for giving in so quickly.

"So, Mr. Wario," Cream began like nothing ever happened, "I said goodbye to my mom, shall we try to find your way home?"

Wario began mumbling some untypeable words, and reluctantly let Cream to continue following him.

* * *

"Yo, kid! How much longer till we get somewhere remotely civilized?"

Cream looked back to see Wario taking up the rear... again. It was kind of ironic that the guy who was trying to get home was lagging behind but, then again, Wario isn't the fittest of people. Glancing at the map her mom gave her, Cream discovered they weren't far from Station Square.

"Don't worry, Mr. Wario!" Cream shouted back, "We're almost there! Station Square is a huge city. I'm sure you can find your way home from there!"

The reply didn't perk Wario up much. He was still fuming over the "Pokemon Reject", Cheese, nagging him.

"Heck," Wario grumbled to himself, "It ain't even worth a Pokemon status. It's more like one of the knockoff brands, like Digimon or Yu-Gi-Oh! or..."

"Chao!"

Wario looked up to see Cheese flying over him, just as happy, and annoying, as ever.

"Oh, get out of my face... Um... Neopet reject!"

"Chao?"

"Don't you get it!? I said beat it! Geez, you're more annoying than even those 'pocket monster' games! You're more like... Hmm... What's more annoying than Freakachu? I know! You're like that stupid fairy in Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time! So there!"

Cheese, not knowing the difference between anything Wario was saying, simply decided to fly up to Cream and hang out with her, since she didn't yell at him as often (or at all, really).

"Chao, chao?"

"What's the matter, Cheese?" Cream asked, "Is Mr. Wario being mean to you again?"

"STOP CALLING ME 'MR. WARIO'!" Wario shouted, "I swear, if you weren't, like, only twelve years old, I'd sue your freakin' butt off!"

"Actually, Mr. Wario," Cream corrected, "I'm six."

"Whatever... Are we there yet?"

"Why, yes we are! Look, Mr. Wario! It's Station Square!"

When Wario caught up with Cream, he noticed that they were on a hill looking over a massive costal city. Skyscrapers towered over the harbor which, much to Wario's delight, was full of ships from small sailboats to large cruse ships.

"Hmm..." Wario mused to himself, "That Eggman dude directed me over an ocean when he wanted me to steal those emeralds, so if I hitch a ride on one of those boats..."

"What are talking about?" Cream interrupted, "You work for Eggman!?"

"Yikes! Uh..." Wario stuttered, unaware that Cream was listening to him, "I-I mean... He made me do it unwillingly! Yeah! He knew I was a treasure hunter, so he forced me to do his dirty work!"

"Uh-huh..." Cream replied sarcastically, knowing it was her duty to blow the lid off of whatever Wario was hiding, "So, should we go look for a boat, Mr. Wario?"

"Sure... _I'll_ go look for a boat, _you'll_ just sit somewhere and look cute, ok?"

So Wario, Cream, and Cheese walked down to Station Square and began looking for a boat to cross the vast ocean between Mobius and the Mushroom Kingdom.

* * *

Wario's first attempt to get a boat was to walk right up to a dock and demand a boat from the first guy he met.

"Yo, you!" Wario shouted to the man, "You work here?"

"Woah!" The man shouted, "It's Eggman's twin! Everybody run!"

Wario slapped himself in the face as everyone on the dock fled for their lives.

"Well, you _do _look a lot like Eggman, Mr. Wario..." Cream suggested.

"Ok, look..." Wario grumbled as he pulled a huge bag of gold coins from seemingly nowhere, "You're cute. I'm not. People will listen to you. Sweet talk your way into getting a boat and, if all else fails..."

Wario tossed the bag of coins at Cream's feet, nearly wiping out Cheese.

"Bribe 'em."

"You want me to bribe them?" Cream questioned, "Isn't that wrong?"

"Mr. Wario?"

"Get to work. Now. Before I shove that bag down your throat."

Cream obliged and Wario sat on the pier and waited for Cream to return. Five minutes later, Cream returned.

"Well?" Wario asked.

"They told me that these gold coins aren't an acceptable form of currency."

"WHAT!?"

"They said they'd only accept rings."

"Groan... Fine. Where's the nearest bank?"

"Down the street. Do you want me to do the exchange so they don't think you're a robber?"

"Mr. Wario?"

"YES!!!" Wario shouted, on the verge of strangling Cream with her own ears.

"Ok!" Cream cheerfully replied.

Cream pranced off with Cheese flying close behind, and Wario continued to sit there, plotting various ways to murder the cute little rabbit.

"Let's see... Feed her to a Chain-Chomp, push her under a Thwomp, hand her a bob-omb..." Wario pondered when he suddenly noticed Cream returning, "Oh, hey, Cream! How's it going? Did you exchange the coins?"

"You bet, Mr. Wario!" Cream replied, blissfully unaware of Wario's oh-so-pleasant thoughts, "Not only that, but I bought a ship, too!"

"Woah, hey! You did!?" Wario exclaimed, honestly shocked, "Well, where is it?"

"Chao! Chao! Chao!" Cheese replied for Cream, pointing towards the dock.

Wario took one look at where Cheese was pointing and nearly threw up.

"It's PINK!?" Wario screamed, "You bought a boat that was PINK!? WHY!?!?"

"I thought you'd _like_ the color. After all, you're wearing purple overalls..."

"Alright, fine! It's ok! But if you screw up one more time, I'm feeding you to a Piranha Plant and using your Jigglypuss as a breath mint!"

"Well, we'll be sure not to mess up again, Mr. Wario!"

"You better not..."

Although Wario didn't know the first thing about sailing, he declared himself captain and sailed out of the harbor and on they were on their way to the Mushroom Kingdom! Well... They _hoped_...

Editor's Note: Seeing how my note in the last chapter got such a good response (a whole one reply! Yeah! Not), I'll ask again: Should I include the Freedom Fighters? Don't worry if you don't know a thing about them, I only know what I do about them from AnT (by the way, thanks, AnT), so I'll go easy on them and make sure to include ONLY the IMPORTANT info (none of the extra stuff). Even if you don't normally send reviews... SEND ONE IN!!! I NEED INPUT!!! Ok, I'm done.


	26. Source of Power

_Power..._

_Ultimate Power..._

_Power to Control the World..._

_Somewhere Nearby..._

_Nearby..._

Bowser tried to ignore whatever the heck was rushing though his head. It was hard, though. It keep ringing in his ears nonstop. Eventually, the voices went away, but then he started having flashbacks of things that never even happened.

Some old animal casting him out of a city...

Talking to some guy who looked a whole lot like Wario about stealing something...

Towering over the city and destroying it single-handedly...

Some young female animal (same breed as the old guy) pleading with him to stop...

Squashing Rouge under the chunk of catwalk he knocked off...

Weird. That last flashback was accompanied by its own voice: "GET OFF ME, YOU TUB OF LARD!!!"

That was when Bowser realized that the last "flashback" wasn't a flashback at all, especially when he suddenly got punched in the face by Rouge.

"Wha... Hu...?" Bowser mumbled, rubbing his probably broken jaw.

"It's about time you woke up," Rouge grumbled, "You kept talking in your sleep about 'Ultimate Power'. I swear, you were starting to sound... like... Shadow..."

"Well, geez, sorry I sounded like your dead boyfriend..."

Bowser got another punch in the face before Rouge continued.

"HE WAS NOT MY BOYFRIEND!!! Besides, your drooling was more annoying then the talking anyway. Now, are you just gonna sit there or are you going to let me get out from under this stupid catwalk?"

Bowser then noticed what exactly was the situation. Apparently, after the rather nasty fall, they landed on the bottom floor in a way that Rouge hit the floor first, the catwalk landed on top of her, and Bowser pinned them both down.

"Oh, uh, right..." Bowser muttered, rather embarrassed, as he got off of Rouge, "Yeah, there you go. How about figuring out where we are and how to get out of here?"

"Well, let's see..." Rouge began as she pulled out a small holographic projector of the ARK, "I think we're in the central core of the ARK. Unfortunately, I don't see any easy way out at the moment..."

Bowser let Rouge concentrate on finding a way out and spent his time looking at his surroundings. It didn't look like any "Central Core" he had seen before, it looked more like the innermost place of a temple. There was a stone pathway a few inches above a strong current of some orange fluid rushing out of the room. The walkway went straight forward, formed a circle, and went up a flight of stairs to a mysterious piece of ruins. Bowser approached the ruins and noticed a small shrine in the middle holding a small, green emerald. The shrine was adorned with writing, but Bowser, not surprisingly, couldn't read it.

"What the heck?" Bower shouted, "I can't read these stupid inscriptions! Grr..."

Frustrated, Bowser gave the shrine a sharp kick. The second his foot touched the shrine, all the flashbacks he had earlier suddenly came back. By the time they went away, Bowser was already holding his foot, hopping up and down in pain.

"Ok," Rouge grumbled impatiently, "What did you do now?"

"Oh... Um... Nothing! Just stubbed my toe on this little emerald thingy..."

"Emerald?" Rouge asked, dropping the map and running up to Bowser.

"Um, yeah! Right here!" Bowser replied, pointing at the shrine.

Rouge took a close look at the shrine, the emerald, and the inscriptions.

"Ah... Now I remember!" Rouge began, "This is a reproduction of the Master Emerald shrine. Of course, the emerald here is fake. The real one is... Well, it _should_ be on Angel Island, but that echidna probably managed to shatter it again. Anyway, its purpose was to stop an overdrive on the ARK if the Chaos Emeralds were ever to get onboard. Also, this shrine seems to give off the same aura as the real shrine, but it's a whole lot weaker."

"Emeralds, huh?" Bowser mumbled to himself, "I think those were the things that we fused the Star Spirits with. So, if a _fake_ emerald supposedly gives off 'Power to Control the World', then seven _real_ Emerald Stars..."

"Um, what are you talking about?" Rouge questioned.

"Yikes! Erm... Nothing! Nothing at all! Just talking to myself! Ignore what I say!"

"Oh, I already do that..."

Bowser was about to attempt to fry Rouge again when they both heard Rouge's map projector start beeping.

"What's it doing?" Bowser asked, "Is it gonna blow up or something?"

"No!" Rouge shouted as she ran over to the map, "It found a way out of this place! I need to see what it is!"

Bowser tried to follow Rouge, but he suddenly tripped over something and landed flat on his face. When he looked to see what had 'dared to trip the Koopa King', he saw it was a big cable. That was when Bowser noticed a giant, backpack-like thing floating in the pool in the center of the circle walkway. He grabbed the cable and, with one mighty tug, he pulled the thing over to dry land. A closer inspection revealed that it was mostly a metal box, but it had a giant red dome on the top. On the side, between two of the cables, were the words BIOLIZARD LIFE SUPPORT.

"Yo! Rouge!" Bowser yelled, putting the life support on his back, "What's this thing, huh?"

Rouge took one look at Bowser and completely freaked out.

"TAKE THAT THING OFF YOUR BACK!!!" Rouge screamed, "YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT THING DOES!!!"

"Woah, hey, calm down! It's just some sort of life support! Nothing to panic about, right?"

"That was what kept a monster that threatened the world alive. I don't think that will bring fond memories to people who see you. More importantly, it probably is set to special body specifications."

"What?"

"What is programmed in that thing will probably mess your body up and kill you."

"WOAH! YIKES!" Bowser panicked as he ripped the life support off his back and threw it back in the pool, "YA COULDA TOLD ME THAT BEFORE I PUT IT ON!!!"

"I could have, but I didn't."

"Grr... Fine. What does your map say about getting out of here?"

"Well, if what it says is true..."

"Hold on... What do you mean 'if'?"

"I mean that there's always a chance of it screwing up, you know, from dead batteries or getting squashed under your big fat butt or..."

"Yeah, whatever. Keep going."

"Anyway, if we go in that orange fluid and swim over there..." Rouge pointed off to her left, "There is an emergency drain used to prevent the stuff from flooding the place. If I recall, I had to shut one of those drains the last time I was here... Anyway, according to the map, not only is it big enough for both of us to fit in, but it also leads right to the escape pods! You _can_ swim, right?"

"Oh, please... I'm the greatest swimmer around!"

Rouge gave Bowser a weird look.

"Um... Ok, so maybe I'm not the_ best_..."

Weird look.

"Alright, fine! So I can't tell the difference between a doggy paddle and a boat paddle! All I have to do is get over to that pipe, right?"

"It's a pretty strong current..."

"Yeah, right! Look at me! I'm so heavy, I don't have to swim, I could just hold my breath and walk over to that pipe!"

Bowser began to try and prove this fact, but as soon as he left the edge and went in the fluid, he suddenly was rushed away in the current.

"ACK!!! WHAT THE (cough) HECK!? HOW (gurgle) STRONG IS THIS CURRENT!? DON'T JUST (hack) SIT THERE!!! HELP (spew) ME!!!"

Rouge sighed and ran after Bowser. When she caught up to him, she dived into the water and, once she grabbed his arm, swam back to dry land with Bowser in tow. After pulling both of them up, she noticed that Bowser was breathing irregularly.

"Ugh..." Bowser sputtered between breaths, "Don't... even... think... about... mouth... to... mouth..."

"Erm... Feelings neutral."

Suddenly, Bowser stopped breathing completely. Rouge realized that it was probably a good idea, despite how much she hated Bowser, to save him, but she was _certainly_ still avoiding mouth-to-mouth. Instead, she leaped into the air and drill-kicked Bowser's gut. It wasn't graceful, but it did cause Bowser to start coughing up orange curd. Soon, Bowser was back on his feet, and still as grumpy as ever.

"When I said no mouth-to-mouth," Bowser grunted, "I though you would do something like the Heimlich Maneuver, not kick my stomach!"

"Well I saved you, didn't I? Let's try again, and this time, I go first!"

Rouge (and a much more aware Bowser) swam over to the drain and made their exit from the ARK's core. As they left, Bowser surfaced one last time and looked at the shrine again. Little did Bowser know, but that "Ultimate Power" he was having nightmares about _was_ connected to the Emerald Stars, and if he ever got his hands on all seven...


	27. Robot War

Not surprisingly, Mario and Vector weren't successful in finding E. Gadd in the jungle, but that's not to say that it was a total waste.

"So, ya sure that the guy that Big was talking about is your bro?" Vector asked, pushing some branches out of the way as he walked through the rainforest.

"Sure thing!" Mario replied, "There is only one person who wears overalls and a green cap, and that's my brother Luigi!"

As they were walking around, now looking for Luigi instead of Gadd, Mario noticed that a giant wall had risen up on their left.

"Hey, Vec? What's-a that?"

"Eh? Oh that wall? It's old ruins from some ancient echidna tribe or whatever. Don't know much about them myself..."

Vector was cut off when he noticed that Mario wasn't looking at the ruins anymore. Instead, he was looking straight ahead, where he could see, lo and behold, Luigi running up to him.

"MARIO!!!" Luigi yelled.

"Hey, Luigi!" Mario called back, "Where have you been?"

"RUN!!!" Luigi screamed as two giant explosions went off behind him.

Obviously, the two explosions seemed a little out of the ordinary for Mario, so, ignoring Luigi's warning, he stayed put to see what had set them off. Right on Luigi's tail was a giant, red and black robot who was now trying to use a machine gun built into his fingers (it kinda reminded Mario of his old pal, Geno) to fill poor terrified Luigi with lead.

"Say, I know who that robot is..." Vector grumbled, "That's E-123 Omega! But what the heck is he doing trying to kill your brother? Last time I checked, he was against Eggman!"

Luigi, panicking way too much to watch where he was going, ran dead-on into Mario and Vector, causing all three of them to be sent sprawling out in different directions. When Mario got back on his feet, he saw Luigi cowering in front of E-123 Omega, who now had retracted his hands entirely and, judging from the glow emitting from his empty arms, was about to fry Luigi with a flamethrower! Without wasting any time, Mario ran towards the two of them just as Vector got up and realized what was going on.

"HEY, WAIT A SECOND! ARE YOU NUTS!?" Vector shouted, "GET BACK HERE! YA GONNA GET YOURSELF KILLED!!!"

Mario didn't listen. He ran up behind Omega and jumped over his head. While still in midair, Mario turned around so that, when he landed, he was facing the robot, with Luigi right behind him. This was a little odd for Omega, so he had to pause for a moment to "compute" things:

**(unknown2) Appeared AtCoordinates 23-85-10;**

**PossibleMotive: Protect (unknown1);**

**Solution: Delete (unknown2);**

**Delete (unknown2) Begin;**

Omega began to activate his flamethrower again. Mario, however, wasn't the least bit worried, since he had a plan. As the robot fired his flamethrower, Mario stuck his arm out and, causing Omega's "logic sensors" to completely whack out, caught the flames in the palm of his hand! When Omega stopped using the flamethrower, Mario had a fireball in his fists that was as big as him! With a small flick of his wrists, he threw the fireball at Omega, with a resulting explosion that blasted the robot ten yards backwards and into a tree! But Omega managed to get back up, so Mario ran up to him, determined to finish him off.

Omega tried to blast Mario to pieces with a bazooka, but Mario threw himself on his stomach and belly-slid not only away from the explosion, but right between Omega's legs! Mario leaped back up onto his feet once he was behind Omega and noticed a hinged piece of metal hanging on Omega's backside, kind of like the little rubber mats that hang behind car tires. Mario, getting an idea from one of his previous battles with Bowser, grabbed it and began to spin Omega around. After a few seconds of this, Mario let go, and Omega's momentum caused him to be sent flying straight into one of the walls of the ruins! Mario walked up to the robot and saw that he was lying in a heap right under the wall. Seeing that Omega was definitely down for the count Mario turned his attention back to Vector and Luigi.

"W-What the h-heck was that!?" Vector shuttered, his eyes bulging out of their sockets, "W-With the flamethrower... A-And the fireball... How the heck did you do that!?!?"

"Hey, they don't call us the Super Mario Brothers for nothing!" Mario replied, "Besides, that guy was about as easy to beat as Popple. Remember him, Luigi?"

"Oh yeah..." Luigi began, finally calming down after his near-death experience, "You mean that 'Master Shadow Thief' guy who..."

Suddenly, Vector and Luigi went quiet, and they seemed to be staring at something behind Mario.

"Uh-oh. Let me guess..." Mario mumbled, "That robot isn't dead and he's right behind me now, isn't he?"

Both Vector and Luigi nodded.

Mario immediately turned around, ready to fight Omega again, but he didn't get a chance to before Omega grabbed Mario by the neck, slammed him against the wall, and proceeded to try and strangle him. While Vector and Luigi watched in horror, Luigi began to hear a voice in his head that sounded a lot like the female echidna he saw in his dream.

"What are you waiting for? Save your brother!"

Suddenly, Luigi wasn't scared anymore. Instead, he began to get really angry at Omega for threatening his brother. Pretty soon, Luigi was glaring at the murderous robot with his fists tightly clenched and sparking with electricity. When Omega stated out loud that Mario's "life systems were failing", Luigi couldn't contain his anger any longer. Throwing his own safety out the window, Luigi charged right up to Omega, jumped, and gave the robot a choke-hold. Omega immediately released Mario, giving him a chance to breathe, and tried unsuccessfully to get Luigi off his head. Now, it was Vector and _Mario_ who was watching _Luigi_ beat Omega into oblivion. While Omega struggled to remove Luigi from his head, Luigi was pounding his robotic cranium, leaving big dents in his metal head. After sufficiently bashing Omega's head, Luigi grabbed a loose piece of the metal and ripped it off, revealing tons of wires. Without pausing for even a second, Luigi charged up a Thunderpalm and thrust his fist deep into Omega's circuitry. After the lightshow of electricity coursing through Omega's entire system concluded, Luigi gave him one final punch to put the robot out of his misery. When the dust settled, Omega had fallen over like a statue with Luigi on top of him, like a predator on its prey. Satisfied with what he had done to save his brother, Luigi took two deep breaths before passing out from exhaustion.

"Momma-Mia!" Mario gasped, "I've never seen Luigi fight like _that_ before!!!"

"No kiddin'!" Vector grumbled, "I don't think even Knuckles has fought with that much power!"

"Well, I'm not sure about that..." Mario mumbled, thinking about his skirmish with Knuckles, "But what I don't get is that Luigi, to be honest, isn't that brave. What would motivate him to fight that hard? Is brotherly love that strong?"

"I'll tell you what I _do_ know..." Vector began as he picked Luigi's limp form up off Omega's fried body, "If we don't get medical help for this guy, we'll be dealing with a _fallen_ hero!"

"WHAT!?" Mario screamed.

"When your bro fried ol' trash can here, the electricity caused the bucket of bolts to overheat, and since your bro landed on top of him..." Vector paused to show Mario that the entire front of Luigi's overalls were charred black, "He'll be lucky if he's got only second degree burns!"

Mario didn't say anything. Luigi saved his life, now it was time for Mario to save his. Vector, being the stronger one, hoisted Luigi over his shoulders commando-style and began to lead the way out of the jungle and back to civilization. Before leaving the battlefield, however, Mario paused for a moment and walked back towards the downed Omega. Now that the "corpse" had cooled down a bit, Mario was able to stick his hand down Omega's hollow noggin and, after searching for a bit, found what he was looking for.

"Hey! Hurry up!" Vector called, "Your bro's in serious trouble here!"

"Coming!" Mario shouted back as he ran to catch up with Vector.

"Say, whatcha got there?" Vector asked when he noticed that Mario was holding a small computer chip.

"Oh, this? I think it's Omega's memory bank. I decided to take since, hey, you never know when you might need the entire history of one of Eggman's robots. It might come in handy!"

"Right... Look, this suddenly has gotten a lot more urgent. It turns out that Omega must have gotten a _few_ hits in..." Vector explained as he pointed to multiple claw marks in Luigi's back, "I don't know how much longer he's gonna last if we don't get him somewhere safe..."

After Vector explained exactly how urgent the situation was, the two of them continued in silence. They both knew that, if they didn't get him to a hospital quickly, Luigi would die.


	28. Yoshi's Island Zone, Act I

Ah, the scenic shores of Yoshi's Island. The beaches... The trees... The psycho killer robots that had recently taken the place over.... It was a perfect paradise. Off in the distance, a small boat was quickly approaching the island. On the deck of the ship was Peach and Toadsworth, and Toadsworth was _still_ arguing about something.

"Are you sure we can trust that rodent with this mission?" Toadsworth protested, "He's probably secretly one of Bowser's minions looking for an opportunity to kidnap you!"

"Uh, huh..." Peach replied, obviously not really concerned, "And since when did Bowser have hedgehog minions?"

"Er... What about those porcupos you fought in Subcon? He looks an awful lot like one of those! I bet his real name is Sonic the Porcupo!"

"For starters, porcupos were Wart's minions, not Bowser's. Secondly, porcupos were purple, not blue. Now, if you excuse me, I must go tell Sonic that he has to get ready."

Peach then went below deck leaving Toadsworth to try and think of another reason to not trust Sonic

"Hey! Maybe he's a blue spiny wearing an ugly toupee! I knew that fur looked a little fake! Princess!..."

* * *

Below deck, Peach found Sonic sitting in his bunk reading some old magazines that were lying around, probably to get some information about the Mushroom Kingdom. 

"We're getting near Yoshi's Island," Peach began, "Are you ready to go?"

"Oh, yeah!" Sonic answered as he threw the magazines aside and getting up off the bed, "This boat is a little to cramped for me, anyway. I can't wait until I can get out and running again!"

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Peach asked, "It's pretty dangerous what you're going to do..."

"Hey, don't worry about me! I've dealt with Eggman's robo-goons hundreds of times! Even if he roboticized every living thing on that island, I could take care of it without breaking a sweat! See ya!"

Sonic then revved up and blasted past Peach and out the cabin door. By the time Peach got back on the deck of the boat, he was nowhere to be seen.

"Huh? Where did he go?" Peach wondered out loud to herself.

"If you're talking about our little blue hoodlum friend," Toadsworth replied, pointing at the skid marks all over the deck, "He just ran by here a couple of seconds ago. He ran towards the bow of the ship, which is tilted upwards, and used it as a ramp to propel himself into the air and all the way to Yoshi's Island! Now he's using our ship as a skate park! He's going to be the death of us all!"

Toadsworth stopped ranting when he saw Peach sigh and look out at the ocean.

"Uh, Princess? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine..." Peach mumbled, "I'm just concerned about what Sonic said. If Mario was sent flying from that explosion at Bowser's Castle, now we don't know where Luigi _or_ Mario is. I'm confident that Sonic can protect the Mushroom Kingdom for the time being, but he's never fought Bowser before. If Bowser returns to the Mushroom Kingdom before Mario does, will Sonic be able to stop _him_? If not, who's going to?..."

* * *

While Peach was wondering about Sonic's capability of protecting the Mushroom Kingdom against Bowser, the Blue Blur was racing through the forests of Yoshi's Island. Noticing a tall tree, Sonic ran at it dead-on and, instead of coming to a crashing halt, began to run _straight up_ the tree. Once at the top, Sonic took a moment to observe the surrounding area for any robots. 

"Dang..." Sonic mumbled, "All these trees make it hard to see anything. How am I supposed to find any robots hiding below all of..."

Sonic was cut off when he suddenly felt something wrap around his leg. Looking down, he saw that his leg was now tangled in a chain with a mace hanging on the end of it, which was a dead giveaway that a Yoshitron had found him. Further down Sonic could see the Yoshitron retracting its tongue in an attempt to pull him in. However, since its tongue had wrapped around both Sonic's leg and the top of the tree, the chain wouldn't budge, thus causing the Yoshitron to begin pulling itself up towards Sonic instead of Sonic towards it. Sonic, meanwhile, struggled to pull his leg free from the chain.

"Com'on..." Sonic grunted, "Stupid chain. Gotta get this thing off my leg..."

Sonic eventually got it off, and not a moment too soon. Just as Sonic freed his leg and began to run back down the tree, Yoshitron had pulled itself to the top and tried to slice a chunk off of Sonic with his razor claw, but since Sonic had made his escape moments earlier, all Yoshitron managed to chop off was the top of the tree. When it realized that it had missed, the Yoshitron dug its claw into the tree as it descended, causing the tree to begin splitting into four long planks. When Sonic saw this, he jumped off the tree and spun-dashed straight into an adjacent tree. After banging around in the tree for a few seconds, he shot out the bottom just as Yoshitron had hit the ground. There was no way for the Yoshitron to dodge Sonic's spin-dash, and Sonic slammed right into its chest. After the dust settled, Sonic was standing triumphantly next to a slightly dazed but non-robotic yoshi. Sonic didn't get a chance to take a breather, though. Suddenly, a group of robotic toads came through the bushes. They were holding spears, and they were pointing them at Sonic.

"Oh, no..." Sonic cried sarcastically, "More robots. Whatever shall I do?"

Without missing a beat, Sonic curled up into a ball again and spin-dashed right at the small army. He bounced off all of the robots like they were bumpers in a pinball machine and, about five seconds later, all that was left was a pile of robot parts and a bunch of confused toads. Before any of them could say thank-you, Sonic ran off in search of more robots to destroy.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the Death Egg, Grounder was using his newfound power to boss some lesser robots around telling them to load the Egg Carrier. 

"Hey, you!" Grounder yelled, pointing at a random robot that really didn't do anything wrong, "Hurry up! Robotnik wants all this stuff delivered to him pronto!"

During his ranting, a messenger robot approached Grounder from behind and tapped him on the shoulder.

"WHAAA!!!" Grounder screamed before turning around and seeing that it was just another robot, "Hey! What are you doing, sneaking up on me like that! You nearly gave me a heart attack!... Well... If I had a heart, that is... I just have an oil can there..."

"GROUNDER." The robot began, "SONIC HAS FOUND THE DEATH EGG AND IS TRYING TO DESTROY ALL THE ROBOTS THAT HAVE BEEN MADE."

"W-What!?" Grounder muttered, "H-How c-could he..."

Looking out a conveniently placed window, Grounder could see little explosions (complete with clouds of smoke) and a blue vapor trail going from one to the next.

"Aw, great... Robotnik's gonna kill me... Everyone! Load up the Egg Carrier as fast as you can! Unless, of course, you want to be reduced to scrap metal by Sonic..."

The mentioning of Sonic seemed to bring the robots morale up considerably. None of them wanted to be destroyed by Sonic, so they all worked about ten times faster to load the carrier up. A minute or so later, everything was loaded up and Grounder quickly entered the Egg Carrier and prepared it for lift-off.

* * *

Sonic raced up to the Death Egg just in time to see the Egg Carrier come out of the top of the giant base. When Grounder saw Sonic standing far below him, he decided to taunt him. 

"Hello down there, Stupic the Hedgehog!" Grounder teased through a loudspeaker so Sonic could hear, "What an embarrassment! I'm all the way up here and you can't get me! It must be shameful not even being able to defeat one of Robotnik's assistances! Even if you search the entire Death Egg, you'll never find a clue to where I'm going! So long, sucker!"

The Egg Carrier's boosters turned on and it took off into the distance. Sonic didn't bother to follow, since he knew he was on an island meaning that he'd have to somehow cross the ocean if he wanted to follow him. Instead he ran back to the boat to report to Princess Peach. When he got there, he was greeted by a huge crowd of the yoshis and toads he saved from a robotic doom.

"Good job, Sonic." Peach began, "I believe I speak for everyone here when I say thank-you."

"Humph..." Toadsworth grumbled, "He may have proved his worth, but he certainly isn't as good as Master Mario!"

"Hey, old man, can it." Sonic grunted before turning his attention back to Peach, "Yeah, I managed to save a bunch of your friends here, but Eggman is apparently moving out of this base for good, and I have no idea where his new HQ is..."

"That's ok," Peach replied, "But a more prominent problem is locating those Emerald Stars before Bowser or Eggman does. Could you perhaps help us look for them?"

"Of course! The emerald part of Emerald Stars is from my world, after all! Where do we start?"

Sonic, Peach, Toadsworth, and all the toads Sonic saved went on the boat and made their way back to Princess Peach's Castle (the yoshis stayed behind since Yoshi's Island was their home, obviously). It was clear what Sonic, and Mario once he found his way home, had to do: Find the Emerald Stars.


	29. Portrait Breakout

It was nighttime at Lady Bow's mansion, not that one could tell by looking out the window, since it was always dark. However, the fact that Bow was currently getting her "beauty sleep" was a pretty good indicator that it was sometime in the after-hours. But for her "guests", Tails, Knuckles, and Amy, they didn't have a particular interest in what time it was. They were too busy trying to figure out how to escape from the portrait prisons that Bow had sealed them in.

"Give it up, Knuckles..." Tails moaned as the echidna tried to break through the painting's wall with his namesake for the hundredth time, "Whatever's trapping us in here is doing a good job. I bet that not even Eggman could blast us out of these things. There's got to be another way out of here without using force..."

Sighing mournfully, Tails dug in his pocket, pulled out something and began looking at it.

"Hey, what's that, Tails?" Amy asked.

"What, this?" Tails replied holding it up, "When we first met that E. Gadd guy, he and I exchanged blueprints for each other's inventions. You know, just to see what he made and all. This one is for something called 'The Portricationizer'."

"The _what_?" Knuckles sneered.

"E. Gadd use to be a ghost hunter. When he captured ghosts, he used the Portricationizer to turn them into paintings, just like Lady Bow did to us! He even said that the machine could run in reverse for this kind of situation!"

"So, what you're saying is..." Amy began, "We just have to use that Protri-Whatever, and we'll be free!"

"Exactly!" Tails exclaimed.

"Hate to break it to you," Knuckles interrupted, "But there is no way in heck that is gonna happen."

"Why not, Knuckles?" Amy questioned, "Tails' plan is perfect!"

"Let me put it this way: No one knows what happened to us, or where we are. Do you think some old fart, who we left on Angel Island to begin with, is gonna somehow manage to get all the way over here, get rid of all these ghosts that _I_ couldn't even hurt, carry three huge pictures to his 'Portricator' or whatever the heck it's called, and free us? Face it: we're screwed."

Knuckles plopped down and began fuming to himself.

"Actually..." Tails corrected, "It's called the 'Portricationizer', not 'Portricator'..."

Suddenly, Tails noticed something. Knuckles, in an attempt to amuse himself, was tossing what looked like an emerald into the air and catching it. Closer inspection revealed that it was Tails' "Artificial Chaos Control" emerald!

"Knuckles!" Tails cried, "You still have that?"

"Eh? You mean this little invention of yours that got us in this mess in the first place?" Knuckles asked, "Yeah, I still have it. You want it back?"

"Yes! I mean, no! Er..." Tails stumbled, quickly plotting out a new plan, "Look, if you still have that, maybe you can 'Chaos Control' yourself out of that painting! Then, you can get help and come back for us!"

"You want me to do that _again_? No way! I'll probably wind up someplace where I'll have an even worse fate, like right inside Eggman's roboticizer!"

"Knuckles, you're just going to have to trust me, ok? Besides, what's the worst that could happen? It's better then being stuck in here, right?"

"..."

"Right?"

"Grumble... Fine... But if something goes wrong, I'm not coming back for you!"

Once again, Knuckles tossed the fake emerald into the air.

"Sigh... here we go again... CHAOS CONTROL!"

Suddenly, all Knuckles could see was a bright light emitting from the fake emerald. After a second, it went away, and he noticed that he wasn't trapped in the painting anymore!

"Hey! It worked!" Knuckles shouted, "BOYAH! TAKE THAT, YOU STUPID GHOSTS! THOUGHT YOU COULD TRAP ME, HUH? NO ONE CAN KEEP ME..."

Suddenly, Knuckles realized something rather embarrassing: The Chaos Control worked, but it had only sent him about two feet away from the painting! He was now standing in the middle of Lady Bow's bedroom, with about two hundred Boos that he had just woken up, Lady Bow included, surrounding him.

"Uh... Hi, guys..." Knuckles mumbled nervously, "I didn't mean that part about you being stupid... gulp..."

Lady Bow only hissed one command.

"Kill him."

Without a moment's hesitation, all two hundred Boos lunged at Knuckles, trying to make him become one of them. Knuckles, however, had other ideas. He punched at some of the oncoming Boos and, much to his surprise, they actually got knocked back from the blow.

"Hey, so you guys can be punched now? Well then, things have gotten a whole lot easier!"

Knuckles began flinging his fists in all directions, connecting with a Boo every time. There was just one small problem: Even though he _was_ hitting the Boos, and they _were_ getting knocked back, none of them actually disappeared, they just kept coming back for more. When Knuckles realized this, he decided it was probably a better plan to try and find an escape route rather than a fight. The answer came in the form of, how original, the bedroom door. Unfortunately, some of the Boos were in the process of sealing the door just like they did when Tails had entered.

"So, you think that's going to stop me?" Knuckles began, "None of your supernatural junk's gonna hold me back! TAKE THIS!"

Knuckles threw his fist at the door with all his might. Although he did feel a strong pain rush through his body from the demonic webbing on the doors, he had still managed to hit the door hard enough to get results. The webbing shattered into a million pieces and the door was knocked off its hinges in a spectacular manner. Knuckles raced out the door, with two hundred Boos in hot pursuit.

"GET HIM!" Lady Bow screamed, "DON'T LET HIM GET OUT ALIVE!"

Knuckles didn't even bother to reply. Instead, he jumped on the banister and grinded his way down to the bottom floor. Upon reaching the end of the "rail", Knuckles leaped into the air and glided fist-first into the front door, slamming it wide open. When he landed on the ground outside the mansion, he turned and noticed that the Boos were _still_ following him!

"You've got to be kidding me..." Knuckles groaned, "They don't give up, do they?"

Franticly looking around for another escape route, Knuckles found himself at a severe lack of options. The only path away from the mansion led into Forever Forest which, obviously, wouldn't end well. Just when things seemed hopeless, Knuckles noticed something else: A giant, blue pipe. Seeming like the only favorable option, he ran for it and dived in. Luckily, the Boos were in such a frenzied state trying to hunt him down that they didn't notice him jump in the pipe and raced right past it into the woods. When the coast was clear, Knuckles poked his head out and snickered.

"Heh, stupid ghosts..." Knuckles grunted, "They'll never find me if I just hide in... WOAH!"

Suddenly, Knuckles felt himself getting pulled into the pipe! He tried to grab onto the rim and climb out, but it was no use. In only a matter of seconds, Knuckles was sucked in and could see nothing but darkness.


	30. Gone Fishing

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"No!"

"Are we there yet?"

"NO!"

"Are we there yet?"

"LISTEN, KID: IF YOU ASK ME THAT QUESTION ONE MORE TIME, I'M GONNA RAM A LIFE PERSERVER DOWN YOUR UGLY LITTLE THROAT TO SHUT YOU UP!"

In case it wasn't obvious, Wario and Cream were still stuck on that little pink boat in the middle of the ocean, attempting to get back to the Mushroom Kingdom. However, the trip was taking much longer than Wario expected, and Cream wasn't helping his patience much.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Wario. I'm just wondering if we're going to reach land soon..."

"Yeah, well, guess what? I'm wonderin' that, too! How long have we been out here, anyway? It feels like it's been weeks! Months!..."

"Actually, Mr. Wario, we only left two days ago."

"Eh? Um... I only said it _feels_ like it's been that long. Everything seems to last longer when I'm hungry, except eating, of course. Speaking of eating, what grub do we have onboard?"

"I thought you got supplies while I got the boat..."

"WHAT?"

Wario immediately ran down into the gallery of the ship and, lo and behold, could not find a single morsel of food was in any of the pantries. By the time Cream got down there, Wario was already crouched in a corner, wallowing in self-pitty.

"Aw, man..." Wario groaned, "We're all gonna die..."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Wario." Cream apologized, "I really should have gotten the food myself."

Wario didn't seem to hear her, and he continued to mope in his feeble position. That's when Cream noticed something sticking out of Wario's pants (because, when bending over, Wario's pants reveal themselves to be a few sizes to small). It was a rotten, moldy piece of garlic.

"Mr. Wario? What about that garlic you have in your pants? Can't you eat that?"

"MY GARLIC?" Wario shouted, "NO! NEVER!... I mean... uh... I need that for more important things, yeah..."

"Why would anyone need rotten garlic for 'more important things' than eating?"

"It's none of your business!" Wario snapped back, "What _is _your business is finding food! Now, do you have any bright ideas?"

"Well, we could go fishing! Mr. Big taught me how to fish a little while ago.

"Mr. Big? Who's that, your imaginary friend?"

Cream didn't seem to hear Wario's remark. She had left the gallery and went into an adjacent room. She came back with two fishing rods and a tackle box.

"Hey, wow. You did something right for once. So, what's in the box..."

Wario took the tackle box from Cream, opened it, and saw that, like the pantries, there was noting inside.

"Oh no!" Cream gasped, "There's nothing in the tackle box!"

"Good job, Captain Obvious..." Wario grumbled, "NOW what are we gonna... Hold the phone, I've got an idea!"

Wario ran to the living quarters of the boat where he found Cheese sleeping in one of the beds. He grabbed him and immediately tied him up on the end of his fishing line. He then raced back onto the deck of the ship, where he cast his line, and Cheese, off the side. When Cream got up on deck and saw what Wario was doing, she turned a notably pale color.

"What?" Wario grunted, "If there's nothing in the tackle box, we use live bait!"

"YOU CAN'T USE CHEESE!" Cream shrieked, "YOU MIGHT HURT HIM!"

"Yeah, so? Would you rather starve? Besides, he was annoying, anyway."

"CHAO! CHAO! CHAO!" Cheese screamed, franticly trying to stay afloat.

Unfortunately for Cheese, the splashing he was causing caught the attention of a nearby Cheep-Cheep, who instantly swam up to Cheese and swallowed him in one gulp.

"AHH! CHEESE!" Cream squealed before fainting at the sight of her pet getting eaten.

Wario, however, was rather excited about getting something the other end of the line, and began wheeling the fish in. After a minute of struggling, he was able to hoist the Cheep-Cheep up onto the deck. Actually, the Cheep-Cheep landed on top of Cream, not the deck. Obviously, this woke Cream up (who wouldn't be waken by being smacked with a fish?) and when she realized that the fish was the one who swallowed Cheese, she immediately revealed some sort of inner strength to pry the Cheep-Cheep's mouth open and free Cheese.

"Cheese! Are you ok?" Cream asked, holding him in her arms.

"Chao! Chao!" Cheese replied, which apparently meant "Yes."

"See? I told you he would be all right!" Wario snorted

"Actually, you never said that, Mr. Wario."

"Yeah, whatever..." Wario mumbled, holding the flopping Cheep-Cheep up by its tail, "Say, you want some roast Cheep-Cheep? Or do I have to eat this all by myself? Not that I wouldn't mind..."

"Roast _what_? What's a Cheep-Cheep?" Cream asked, "I've never heard of _that_ type of fish before!"

"How could you not know what a Cheep-Cheep is? They are like the most common fish in... the Mushroom... WAIT A SEC! IF THERE ARE CHEEP-CHEEPS, THEN I'M ALMOST HOME! YAHOO!"

Forgetting about eating, Wario shoved the still semi-alive Cheep-Cheep into Cream's arms (who quickly threw it back in the water) and began giving his "crew" orders.

"Jigglysnot! Hoist the anchor! Fuzzball! Unfurl the sails!"

"Mr. Wario? This boat runs on a motor, not by wind. Also, we've been moving all this time, so the anchor is already up."

"You dare question my authority? I don't care if it's physically impossible, just do it!"

Cream just shrugged and put the boat's motor on full speed ahead. Destination: The Mushroom Kingdom.


	31. Escape Pod Clod

All seemed quiet around the Space Colony ARK... Well, except for the loud commotion coming from the drainage pipes caused by Bowser and Rouge crawling through them. Eventually, they were able to follow them right to where Rouge said they would lead: The escape pods.

"Well, here we are." Rouge stated, glancing at her map, "Now, how about making yourself useful and using your stupid strength to bust open the pipe, hmm?"

"Hey! I don't take orders from anyone but me!" Bowser shouted back, "I am the great Bowser, King---"

Bowser was quickly shut up by a swift kick to the mouth courtesy of Rouge's foot.

"Look, I don't care that you're a 'king', just break the pipe open, ok?"

Grumbling at how he was being bossed around by a woman, Bowser reluctantly obliged. Digging his claws into the pipe wall, Bowser slashed upwards, causing the pipe to split in two. Unfortunately, the pipe was suspended in the air, so splitting it in half caused it to fall to the ground, ungracefully spilling the two of them onto the floor.

"Ugh..." Rouge moaned, "That's the last time I ask you to do anything..."

"Hey, don't look at me! Last time I used a pipe as a means of transportation, I didn't need to break in half it in order to get out!"

"When was the last time you needed to use a pipe for transportation?"

"Um... Don't ask..."

Rouge just shrugged, walked over to a computer terminal near the escape pods, and began adjusting with the settings for the landing program. Bowser, meanwhile, wandered off to see what was nearby.

"Ok, so this thing is set to land at GUN headquarters, which would be fine if that _thing_ wasn't following me..."

Rouge turned around and noticed that Bowser was nowhere to be seen, but she could hear him lumbering down one of the nearby hallways.

"Great, just great..." Rouge moaned "He's going to get himself lost, probably. Though, that might not be that bad of a thing. Can't stand that freak, anyway."

However, just as she was finished resetting the landing program and was about to get inside the pod, she heard a loud bang and Bowser suddenly crashed through the ceiling and landed right at the feet of Rouge.

"Uh, boy..." Rouge moaned, "Do I even WANT to know how you managed to not only wander so far off that you wound up on the floor above me, but also somehow found an... ahem... 'express route' back?"

"Hey!" Bowser retorted, "It's not my fault! I was looking at what else was on this flying piece of scrap metal when I got lost---"

"Yeah, I figured THAT one out..."

"Oh, shut up. Anyway, so I was trying to find my way back when all of the sudden I heard this noise---"

"Which was undoubtedly just some humming computer..."

"Hey! I said shut up! _Anyway_, I turned around and I saw the shadow of some alien on the wall---"

"Probably just some tangled wires..."

"FOR THE LAST TIME, SHUT UP! Hey, you would've been scared, too! It wasn't just any alien! It was that evil, little, floating alien that latches to peoples heads and sucks up their life energy! What's the name of that thing, again? I think it begins with an 'M'... Matro? Mutrod?..."

At this point, Rouge had stopped listening to Bowser's lament and began getting into the escape pod.

"What? Where are you going? How dare you---"

"Yeah, yeah. I know..." Rouge interrupted, oozing with sarcasm, "'How dare you ignore the Great King Bowser Koopa!' Well, guess what, your majesty? I think getting off this 'flying piece of scrap metal' is a little more important! And guess what else? I'm going into an escape pod _off_ this 'flying piece of scrap metal'! Now, are you going to keep whining, or are you going to get in here?"

"Grr..." Bowser growled, "Fine, but don't come running to me if you get attacked by a... METROID! I knew I'd remember the name!"

"Right... Have you even _seen_ a 'Metroid'?"

"Um... No... But I did meet a lady who did," Bowser answered, reminiscing on the 'Master Hand' incident, "Before I beat the stuffing outa her, anyway."

"Hmm, nice to know. Now, get in."

Still mumbling something about Metroids, Bowser squeezed into the escape pod with Rouge. Unfortunately, Bowser was a wee bit too big for the pod. By the time he was able to get all his body parts inside, Rouge was practically flattened against the dashboard.

"Ugh," Rouge moaned, "and could you take up anymore space?"

"Probably," Bowser replied

"That was a rhetorical question, you nimrod."

"Hey, I'm just using as much sarcasm as you do."

"Sigh... Whatever. Look, I don't know how rough this escape pod ride is going to be, so don't go throwing up on me, ok?"

"Don't worry, you aren't worthy of that honor."

"It's an honor to be thrown up on?"

"Anything's an honor if it involves me! I am the Great---"

Rouge didn't let him finish. Instead, she launched the escape pod out of the Space Colony ARK at high velocity right as Bowser was about to go through his little self-introduction for what seemed to be the millionth time. If the pod was uncomfortable before, it really got bad when the intense G-force of space travel kicked in. Now, both Rouge _and_ Bowser were plastered to the back of the pod, and neither one of them was happy about it.

"What the... Get offa me!" Bowser shouted, trying unsuccessfully to get Rouge out of his way.

"Quit shoving!" Rouge shouted back, "I can't move, either! The G-force is too heavy! Haven't you ever taken basic physics?"

"G-force my butt! Nothing's more powerful than me!"

As if to prove his point, Bowser, with all his might, threw Rouge off of him... and right into the dashboard. After her head bashed against a bunch of the buttons, a female voice came in over the escape pod's tiny speaker:

_Autopilot deactivated, manual mode engaged._

"Aw, sh..." Rouge began.

Suddenly, the pod shook violently as it entered earth's atmosphere. Then, the voice kicked in again:

_Warning: Escape pod malfunctioning. Please evacuate immediately._

"Oh, double sh..." Bowser began.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), neither one of them got to finish their sentences. Just as the escape pod got into the atmosphere, various parts came flying off on the outside. Knowing that if they hung out in there any longer they'd explode right along with the pod, Bowser put his claws into good use again: He tore off a side of the pod, grabbed Rouge, and leaped out. Bowser, being quite heavy, dropped like a rock straight down to whatever was below him. Rouge, however, was able to spread her wings and tried to glide down safely. Unluckily for her, this wasn't meant to be. The pod exploded right above her head, causing pieces of all sizes to suddenly radiate outwards from the blast. One of these parts made direct contact with Rouge's head, knocking her out cold. Since one can not glide while they're unconscious, Rouge too fell downwards to the world below.

Editor's Note: Sorry I took so long to update. About a month ago I joined the offical Nintendo message boards, and I'm still having trouble balancing time between fanfiction, message boards, games, and the rest of my life. I'll try to update sooner next time. Honest.


	32. The Magic of the Mushroom

Far off the mainland of the Beanbean Kingdom is the icy island palace known as Joke's End. Legend has it that Joke's End is the final resting place for all crummy jokes. Further evidence of this legend is the fact that, while most of the Beanbean Kingdom décor had giant, smiling faces on it, Joke's End contained statues of _frowning_ faces. While Joke's End usually had an eerie quietness surrounding it, at the moment, a low rumble could be heard approaching. Soon, it got louder, and the source of the noise could be seen: It was the Egg Carrier.

Onboard the flying ship was Eggman, Grounder, and Fawful on the bridge, and hundreds of robots, yoshi, toad, or otherwise, on standby in the bowels of the carrier. While Fawful was rambling on and on about tasty cakes, mustard, and fink-rats in his usual incoherent manner, Eggman and Grounder were having a much more understandable conversation.

"So, Sonic managed to find the Death Egg, hmm?" Eggman pondered, "Good thing I abandoned that base a long time ago... Did you manage to load everything I requested up onto the Death Egg?"

"You betcha!" Grounder replied saluting the doctor, "And not a moment too soon! Just as the ship took off, I could see Sonic standing at the base of the Death Egg! If I took any longer, that blue demon might have caused the whole plan to go up in smoke! Of course, since I had such amazing command of the other robots, we _did_ take off soon enough. I even took advantage of the situation and mocked Sonic a little bit."

Grounder was surprised to see that Eggman didn't seem too happy about the last part.

"Huh? What's wrong, doc?"

"Please don't tell me you accidentally said where we are now hiding; like you do EVERY OTHER TIME you try to taunt him..."

"Ah, that's the best part... I didn't! I made sure of that! Sonic has no clue where we are!"

"Well, I'm impressed. It's nice to see that _one_ of my robots can keep his mouth shut. Remind me to give you a promotion when we have the new base built."

Grounder couldn't help but grin when Eggman mentioned 'promotion'. However, Grounder didn't get a chance to savor the thought longer, because Fawful started yelling at them.

"My Master of temporary! The ice cream that is our base in the sundae of our plans is right below us! Land, shall I?"

"Uh... Oh, yeah..." Eggman grumbled, still having a tough time understanding Fawful's colorful 'dialect', "Land the ship."

"What is it with that guy?" Grounder asked, "He's starting to kinda creep me out. I say we roboticize him."

"I've considered that," Eggman replied, "but I've discovered that the crazier a guy is, the more likely he will somehow outsmart you. I mean, my grandfather had a few screws missing at the end of his life, and he managed to create a doomsday device! What would happen if we turned that freak into a robot with high-octane weapons, and he's still just as crazy?"

"Talking about me you are, I suspect!" Fawful shouted, "Shut your fink-rat sized mouths, or a taste of your own Sundae of Doom I'll give you! I HAVE FURY!"

"Look, just be quiet and land the Egg Carrier, ok?"

Fawful obeyed, and soon the ship touched down on the shores just in front of Joke's End. As Eggman stepped off the ship and onto the combination of snow and sand, he could already see his new base standing where Joke's End was now.

* * *

"Needle nostrils!"

"Flying freak!"

"Purple punk!"

"Yellow... Yahoo!"

"Yahoo? What kind of insult is that?"

"Well... Uh... Yahoo is a very insulting word in the country of... Um... Hey, I think Vector and Mario are coming back!"

Espio and Charmy immediately dropped their 'debate' (good thing for Espio, since he had just ran out of insults) and ran up to the duo, surprised to see that, instead of Gadd, they had Luigi with them.

"Hey guys! Did you find that Gadd... Whoa! Who's that guy, Vec?"

Vector looked at Charmy and noticed he was pointing at Luigi, who he had hoisted over his shoulders in a fireman rescue stance.

"Oh, him? Well, he's---"

"He's my brother, Luigi!" Mario interrupted, "And we found him getting attacked by one of Eggman's robots! Luigi and I were able to destroy the robot, but not before it severely wounded Luigi! We have to get him to a hospital fast, or otherwise, he might die!"

"Um..." Vector replied sadly, "I think it might be too late... He lost his pulse about a minute ago..."

"WHAT?"

Mario lifted Luigi's limp body off of Vector's shoulders and laid him out on the ground. After a closer inspection, Mario discovered that Vector was right. Luigi didn't have a pulse, wasn't breathing, and wasn't responding to anything. The only thing he did have was pale skin. Meanwhile, the wounds he received from his battle with Omega looked even worse. His skin that was burned now looked like charcoal, and almost all of the blood he lost through the claw marks was stained on his clothes. There was no way Mario could deny it: Luigi was dead.

"Bro... Brother..." Mario sobbed, "P... Please don't be..."

"Mario..." Vector began, "I'm sorry..."

"Don't be afraid," Espio comforted, "He's in a better place now."

"Aw, man..." Charmy moaned, "This blows."

Not surprisingly, Charmy received a whack on the head from Vector.

"Hey, I was trying to make him feel better..."

"Look, guys..." Mario stated, "Could you just leave me alone for a few minutes?"

Vector, Espio, and Charmy obeyed, leaving Mario kneeling over Luigi's body, still mourning his death.

"I'm sorry, bro... I should've done something..."

Then, Mario suddenly remembered that he _could_ do something. He reached into his pocket, fished around in there for a moment before pulling out what he was looking for: A spotted, green mushroom. He gently opened his brother's mouth and forced the fungus in.

Team Chaotix was watching from a distance what Mario was doing. Since none of them had ever seen anything from Mario's side of the planet, they couldn't make heads or tails of Mario's actions.

"What the heck is he doing?" Charmy whined.

"I dunno..." Vector answered, "He's from someplace we've never been. Who knows..."

"Guys," Espio began, "I can sense something... Unnatural happening..."

Suddenly, Luigi's corpse began to float in the air and began to glow. Then, sparkles began surround him, causing him to shine even brighter. After the light show, his body suddenly floated back down to the ground, but instead of lying back on the ground, Luigi landed on his feet! He was alive!

"What the..." Vector sputtered.

"That mushroom..." Espio stated, "It must have the powers of resurrection!"

"Hey, cool!" Charmy shouted, "I got to get me one of those! Then, I won't be afraid if Vector threatens to kill me for reading his journal!"

"Can you take anything seriously?" Vector asked

"No, not really."

"Figures... What are we sitting here for? Let's go see them!"

The three detectives raced over to Mario and Luigi, who were in the process of giving each other a brotherly hug.

"Luigi..." Mario lamented, "I thought I lost you..."

"Yeah, I know... I saw Mom. She says 'Hi.'"

"Um, guys?" Vector interrupted, "What on earth did you just do? Luigi was just... You know..."

"1-Up 'shroom," Mario explained, "It's able to bring back the dead."

"Told you." Espio mumbled.

"So, anyway..." Vector continued, "What should we do now? We _still_ don't know what to do now! We haven't found that Gadd guy yet!"

"Well..." Mario began, pulling out Omega's memory bank from his pocket, "You guys have a computer?"

Editor's Note: Well, it's been exactly one year today (May 25th) since I joined Yay! Thanks for all your reviews (especially AnT, who has given me more info about the Archie comics than I'll ever need), and please keep sending them in, so that I may spend many years more writing fanfiction!


	33. Flavio's Heirloom

"_Skull Captain casts his gaze! Red Jewel shines and plays! Boom-bassa-boom festival! The 'Stache brothers, best of friends! Three times Red 'Stache lands on his end! Blue 'Stache's belly four times is whacked, so let's hear those fireworks go BOOM! At the boom-bassa-boom festivaaaal!_"

"For the hundredth time, would you stop singing that infernal song?"

"Excuse me, Admiral Bobbery, but I can sing that song whenever I want. _Boom-Bassa-Boom Festival_ is the---"

"Yeah, yeah, I know... '_Boom-Bassa-Boom Festival_ is the official anthem of the House of Flavio.' Well, as captain of this ship, I order you to stop singing!"

"WHAT? This ship is owned by Flavio! I am the captain!"

"Permit me to jog your memory when I say that you appointed me captain when we set off! Besides, what do you know about sailing in the first place?

"Well, I... Um... Er..."

"My thoughts exactly."

Admiral Bobbery walked off, leaving Flavio to fume by himself. As he walked about the deck of the merchant ship, which left Rougeport monthly to deliver goods around the Mushroom kingdom, he made sure all the crew was doing their share of the work.

"Pa-Patch!" Bobbery called up to the crows nest "How goes things up there? Do you see anything?"

"Nothin' Cap," The purple bob-omb with an eye patch replied, "Just crystal blue sea for as far as my one eye can see... Hey, that was a pretty good pun, eh? Sea, see?"

"Uh, huh..." Bobbery moaned, "Good thing you're a better surveyor than a comedian."

Suddenly, a toad sailor came running up to the Admiral.

"Admiral! I mean, Captain! Er... Admiral?"

"The rank 'Admiral' is higher than 'Captain'." Bobbery reminded.

"Oh, thanks! _Admiral_, we are picking something up on the radio that caught our attention!"

"Hm? Interesting. Let me see!"

The toad led Bobbery down below deck. In the radio room, he explained to him what they had found.

"You see, we were in here, checking to see if there were any other ships nearby. Now, we couldn't pick up anything, but then one of us accidentally changed the wavelengths the radio picked up..."

The toad changed the wavelength of the radio and the reception changed from loud fuzz to silence, indicating that they were picking up someone's radio signal.

"There's another boat out there?" Bobbery asked, "Why isn't it using the standard wavelength that all Mushroom Kingdom boats use?"

"Don't know, Admiral, but all of us have a strange feeling that something is fishy about it. Should try to find them?"

"Better yet," Bobbery suggested, grabbing the mic connected to the radio, "Why don't we try reaching them with this first? Hello? Anyone there? Hello?..."

* * *

Wario was sitting on the deck of his little boat reading when Cream poked her head out from inside. 

"Um, Mr. Wario?" Cream began, "I could use a little help cooking this fish you caught. Would you mind helping me?"

"Yes." Wario snorted, "I'm busy proofreading my autobiography."

Cream walked up and observed the title of Wario's book.

"Wario: The Brains Behind the Boogers? That sounds like an... Interesting autobiography."

"You better believe it! It's full of suspense! Intrigue! Romance!"

Wario suddenly paused and looked back down at the book.

"Wait a sec, I thought I took the romance out... Whatever... Anyway, what was it that you wanted again, not that I care?"

"Well, you know that giant fish you caught that you asked me to cook?"

"Yeah, what's the problem? I thought you said you knew how to cook. Some chick named Ella taught you, right?"

"Cooking it isn't the problem," Cream explained, "It's just so big, I can't flip it over to cook the other side!"

"Ugh... Do I have to do everything myself?"

Wario tossed aside his book and walked into the gallery. He simply grabbed the cheep-cheep's tail and flipped it over.

"Mr. Wario?" Cream asked, "Shouldn't you use a spatula to flip it? What if your hands are dirty?"

"Well then, remind me to let you eat first," Wario answered, "If you die, then I guess my hands were dirty!"

As he turned to leave he noticed that a soap-sud covered Cheese was sitting in the gallery sink.

"What the?... What the heck is he doin' in there?"

"He smelled funny after you tried to use him as bait, so I'm giving him a bath!"

"WHAT? He's probably getting fur or something all over the sink! Get him outta there!"

"But, Mr. Wario, you just flipped that fish over with your hands and didn't mind. Why do you mind that Cheese is taking a bath in the sink?"

"Because, uh... Um... Why do I have to answer your questions, anyway? Get out!"

Wario hoisted Cream up by her ears and Cheese up by his little antennae and threw them both out of the gallery and into the sleeping quarters.

"Chao, chao..." Cheese moaned.

"I guess we can't use the sink for your baths anymore, Cheese," Cream sighed, "Oh well, I guess I should dry you off, huh?"

Cream grabbed a towel from her little suitcase she brought along and began to dry the little chao. Just as she was finishing up, she heard something.

_Hello? Anyone there? Hello?_

"Huh? What was that?" Cream asked herself.

Looking around, she found the noise was coming from something inside the sleeping room closet. Opening the closet, she saw that a radio was making the commotion. Apparently, someone was trying to communicate with them! Cream grabbed the mic sitting next to the radio and began talking into it.

"Um... Hello? Who's speaking, please?"

_My name is Admiral Bobbery. Our ship picked up your ship's radio signal and, since you weren't using the standard wavelength for all Mushroom Kingdom ships, we wanted to see if you were alright._

"Oh, we're fine. We set sail from Station Square, which isn't in the Mushroom Kingdom, so that might explain the different radio wavelengths. Speaking of which, could you help us find our way to the Mushroom Kingdom? We're actually kind of lost."

_Station Square? That's the first time I heard that name... Anyway, I'm sure we can help you._

"Thanks."

Wario, who started to notice that Cream seemed to be talking to herself, walked into the sleeping room and saw her using the radio.

"Eh? We had a radio all this time? Move over, kid, let the captain of this ship use this!"

Wario snatched the mic out of Cream's hand and began yelling at Admiral Bobbery on the other end.

"Hey, you! What are you sittin' around on your lazy bum for over there? We're lost, for cryin' out loud! Help us!"

_Wario? Is that you?_

"Huh? How'd you know my name?"

_I've heard a lot about you. You're somewhat of a legend on the high seas, you know. You were the one who single-handedly took down the Sugar Pirates on Kitchen Island, correct?_

"Oh, yeah! That was me all the way! Aren't I amazing? I must be the greatest legend all you sailors have ever heard about, right? Admit it, I am amazing. I---"

_Ahem, your little, and very polite friend told me about your predicament We tracked where your radio signal is coming from, and we concluded that if you go southwest at twenty knots, we can rendezvous at Keelhaul Key at around mid-afternoon._

"What? Are you crazy? Isn't that place haunted by pirate ghosts?"

_Well, that's just a myth. Besides, if there were any pirate ghosts, you'd be able to take care of them, correct? You were able to defeat the Sugar Pirates._

"Um... I mean, sure, that sounds like a great idea! So, southwest, twenty knots, be there by mid-afternoon, gotcha. See ya there!"

* * *

Bobbery put down the radio mic and sighed. 

"What's wrong, Admiral?" The toad sailor asked.

"Turns out that old scallywag Wario is on that ship!" Bobbery replied.

"Hey, isn't he the one that took out Captain Syrup?"

"Yes, but he is, how to put it, rather much a glutinous pig, not to mention very greedy. I suggest we all keep an eye on the cargo while he's around, least he tries to steal something."

Bobbery climbed back onto the deck to find a much more cheerful Flavio.

"And why are you so cheerful all of the sudden, hmm?" Bobbery asked, remembering that he had previously yelled at him for singing.

"Well, I've realized that I should be positive," Flavio explained, "_Always look on the bright side_ is the motto of the House of Flavio, after all!"

"Funny, I thought you said it was _Slow and steady wins the race_ last week when the ship was delayed in setting off."

"Um, that's another part of it."

"Right... So, what is it that you are so 'positive' about?"

"Well, I realized that while you may have banned me from singing the House of Flavio's anthem, I can still proudly display the House of Flavio's heirloom!"

"I thought you had to give it back to Cortez."

"Yes, well, I have found _another_ House of Flavio heirloom! Behold!"

Flavio pulled his oh-so treasured heirloom out of his coat pocked and proudly displayed it to the world. It looked very much like the Star Spirit Muskular, except it was a crystalline light blue that reflected off the sunlight in a very spectacular manor. Bobbery, however, was not impressed.

"Isn't that the thing you found in Rougeport harbor when Don Pianta tried to send you 'sleeping with the cheep-cheeps' for not paying that debt you owed him?"

"Uh... Er... Still, it's a very valuable object that will become the House of Flavio heirloom from this day on! And, unlike that Skull Gem, I will never part with this heirloom. _Never_!"

* * *

Outer space is cold. Sir Grodus's heart was even colder. 

He stood in his throne room, looking out at the emptiness of space that expanded high above his headquarters on the moon. He was reminiscing about his agonizing defeat at the hands of Mario, but even more so at the hands of the Shadow Queen.

The Shadow Queen! He remembered his foolish plan to use her to conquer the world for him. Unfortunately, he had not planed on the fact that she had more power than him, thus she tried to destroy the world on her own. He also recalled her brutal assault on him, leaving him with nothing but his computerized head.

He looked down at his 'replacement body': A crude, clumsy collection of metal, gears, wires assembled for him by his X-Naut PhDs. He tried to hide the artificial body under his robes, but his handicap was still very obvious. He clenched his metal, robotic fist. He wasn't interested in getting revenge on Mario, he wanted revenge on the Shadow Queen.

But how? Mario had killed the Shadow Queen, and the Crystal Stars would make sure she could never be resurrected. What he needed was something more powerful than the Crystal Stars, something that could resurrect the Shadow Queen and maybe even finally bring her under his control. But where could he find something so powerful? He pondered this day and night, with no apparent answer ever to come to him... Until now.

When he heard about the explosion at Bowser's Castle, he immediately began to investigate on what caused it. His search led to an old legend about two worlds, each with seven powerful artifacts, having their artifacts merged into one. Grodus knew that if he could find just one of these now merged artifacts, maybe, just maybe, he could resurrect the Shadow Queen and bring her under his control. He sent a small army of X-Nauts, led by his bumbling second-in-command Lord Crump, out to search for the 'Emerald Stars', but so far, they turned up nothing.

Suddenly, the communication link in the throne room turned on. On the giant screen was none other than Lord Crump, and he seemed very enthusiastic about something.

"Lord Crump..." Grodus sneered, "This have better be good!"

"Buh, huh, huh! You bet, Sire!" Crump replied in his usual, goofy manner, "Turns out, we got a lead on where one of them Emerald Stars might be!"

"Really now? Tell me, if you know what's best for you."

"Well, you know that Flavio freak in Rougeport? It seems like his new 'Family heirloom' is one of the Emerald Stars! Unfortunately, he left about a week ago on one of his merchant trips. Don't worry though, I got ourselves a boat and we're chasing after him! Boy, my plans are so good, it's sickening!"

"Listen, Crump, you better not mess up. You know your duty, now just do your job!"

"You betcha, boss! Lord Crump, over and out!"

The screen went blank and Grodus returned to looking out into space. Just a little more time, he thought, just a little more time until he could get his revenge.

Editor's Note: Hey, guys! I just thought I'd let you all know something: While I am a big Mario/Sonic fan, I just can't remember everything in all the games. That's where you guys come in. If I ever need any help with something related to Sonic, I know where to turn to (points to AnT), but if I have a question about Mario, I'll post it on the Nintendo Message Boards. Don't worry I'll give you credit for it. In fact, a fellow by the name of Paper Waluigi gave me the lyrics for Flavio's "Boom-Bassa-Boom" song. Thanks, Paper Waluigi! Anyway, if you're a member of the Nintendo Message Boards, be sure to check for questions I ask there. If you give me the correct answer, I'll give you credit!


	34. Dr Robotnik's Mean Beanbean Machine

Knuckles fumbled around in the darkness, trying to find an exit to the pipe he had jumped in.

"Geez," Knuckles groaned, "I can't see two feet in front of me. Where the heck am I, anyway?"

As Knuckles continued to grope around, he started to feel funny, almost nauseous. Something just didn't seem normal about the pipe. Suddenly, he looked up and saw light pouring in from above!

"Ah, ha! That's gotta be the exit!"

Knuckles felt around until his hand touched a wall. Once finding it, he dug his fists into the wall and began climbing upwards, to the light. Eventually, he pulled himself up and over the rim of the pipe, landing on the ground next to him with an ungraceful 'Thump!' After getting up and dusting himself off, Knuckles looked around and observed that he wasn't safe yet: the pipe had dumped him out in the middle of a sewer.

"What is it with me always getting stuck in sewers?" Knuckles asked to no one in particular, "I wound up in a sewer after that first 'Chaos Control' incident, I had to go searching in a sewer for those Master Emerald shards..."

Knuckles continued to groan as he tried to find his way out of the sewer, with little success. The sewer system was, in reality, a confusing labyrinth, and after a while of wandering, all the paths started to look the same. Just as Knuckles was about to give up, he heard something coming from a nearby darkened hallway. He cautiously approached the hallway, making sure that whatever was in it wouldn't surprise him. Once in the darkness, he paused a moment to let his eyes to adjust to the lack of light, but unknowingly let his guard down by doing this. Suddenly, a bright light flashed right in his eyes, temporary blinding the echidna. While still trying to recover from the blindness, Knuckles suddenly felt a strong gust of wind pulling him towards the light! He let himself be pulled in closer and then he threw his fist at the light. Upon making contact, he heard someone yelp, a loud thud, and a not-so-loud thud as the light, which was apparently coming from a flashlight, hit the ground. Knuckles picked up the flashlight and shined it on his assailant, which happened to be none other than a dazed and confused Professor Elvin Gadd.

"What the heck are you doing here?" Knuckles shouted.

"What are you doing here?" E. Gadd shouted back.

"I asked first! What are you doing here? I thought you stayed on Angel Island so you wouldn't slow us down!"

"Well, yes, I did, and I must tell you, some of the fauna on that island absolutely fascinated me! Do you want to see the journal I kept of my findings?"

"WHAT? NO! I don't care about what you found, I want to know how you got _here_!"

"Well, if you must know," Gadd began, completely unfazed by Knuckles constant yelling, "I eventually was able to climb down to the mainland, and do you know what I found right under that train station? A dock with a little raft tied to it! I used it to study the marine life and after a few recordings, I decided I should head back to the Mushroom Kingdom."

"Wait a sec... How did you use a log raft to cross an ocean?"

"I made a few modifications, plus I was able to use the waves and tides to my advantage. Can you believe it took the same amount of time to cross the ocean as it did when me and Mario first crossed it?"

"Right... That still makes completely no sense."

"Well, if you believe it or not, that's the truth. Now, how did _you_ get here?"

Knuckles sighed and began explaining everything: The Emerald Stars, Lady Bow, everything. Gadd listened to all that Knuckles said while thinking it all over.

"Hmm... That explains a lot." Gadd mused, "Well, I assume the biggest problem you have now is that Lady Bow trapped your friends in paintings, eh?"

"Yeah, and Tails said you have some machine called the Portricator or something..."

"You mean the Portricationizer? Of course! If you could just get them back to my lab, I could change them back to normal!"

"Yeah, but getting them back is the hard part. I've fought ghosts before, but the ones in your half of the world are different! My punches just go through them half the time!"

"Naturally... Our ghosts are, for the most part, immortal. So, the only way one can 'defeat' them is to send them into another plain of reality. That was why I made the Portricationizer in the first place: I used it to trap ghosts in the realm of paintings. Obviously, the ghosts aren't just going to go in the Portricationizer willingly, which is why I invented this..."

Gadd pointed to one of his inventions he had strapped to his back. It looked kind of like a red backpack, but it was made of metal. Also, coming off the top of it was a rubber tube that eventually lead to a nozzle at the end. In fact, it looked just like a vacuum cleaner.

"This," Gadd announced, "Is the Poltergeist 3000. I made it out of an old vacuum. By first stunning a ghost with light, one can easily suck it up, where it is then stored inside the Poltergeist 3000 until it is emptied, hopefully into the Portricationizer. I go down here into the sewers a lot because stray ghosts sometimes wind up down here."

"Ok, so why don't you go over to Lady Bow's mansion and save Tails and Amy?"

"Hey, I'm just an old man. I could've done it back in my prime, but now I usually let my protégé Luigi do most of the hard jobs. Unfortunately, he seems to have gotten himself lost again. However..."

Gadd took the Poltergeist 3000 off his back and handed it to Knuckles.

"I'm sure _you_ can save your friends, right?"

"What the?... I don't even know how to use this thing!" Knuckles complained.

"Oh, it's quite simple: Stun a ghost with the flashlight, and then suck 'em up! Now, hurry! Your friends are waiting!"

Realizing that he couldn't argue with the old man, Knuckles groaned, put the Poltergeist 3000 on his back, and set off back for the warp pipe that lead to Lady Bow's mansion. This time, he was ready.

* * *

The construction of Eggman's base at Joke's End was going along smoothly. Already his robots had demolished the fortress that stood there when they first arrived and they were now beginning to set down the foundations of his base. Eggman watched the progress from the bridge of the Egg Carrier, since Joke's End was very cold, and _he_ certainly wasn't going to go outside. As Eggman continued to watch his plans become a reality, Fawful contacted him over the intercom.

"Master of temporaryness!" Fawful cried, "We have found a withering bug known as an intruder!"

"Bring him to me!" Eggman ordered.

"That is impossibleing for me, for this bug that is withering has femaleness!"

"Uh... Ok... Bring _her_ to me, then."

Soon afterwards, Fawful brought in his prisoner: A blue female bean. He ungracefully threw her at Eggman's feet and then left, leaving her fate to Eggman.

"Now then, what is your name, intruder?" Eggman questioned.

"Like I'm gonna tell some fat creep who's trying to kidnap me my name!" the bean girl shouted back, "Like, eww!"

Eggman sighed and pushed a button. Suddenly, a turret dropped down from the ceiling and aimed right at the bean.

"I'll ask only once more... What is your name, intruder?"

"YIPE! Ok, ok, my name is Jojora, but I am so not an intruder! You came here and, like, totally destroyed my home! That was so totally uncalled for!"

"Well, whether this is your home or not..." Eggman grumbled as he reached for a mic on his desk, "You'll still face the same fate as all your fellow bean friends! Grounder!" he shouted into the mic, "Get in here!"

"Yes, your rottenness?" Grounder replied as he entered the room almost as soon as Eggman called him.

"Take this prisoner to the Mean Bean-Steaming Machine. I want to see if that thing still works after all these years."

Grounder obeyed and dragged Jojora off kicking and screaming while Eggman followed. When they reached the Mean Bean-Steaming Machine, Grounder tied her up, placed her on a conveyer belt that fed into the giant, box-like machine, and turned it on. Eggman watched as Jojora, still screaming, entered one end of the machine. He started to grin evilly as he heard the commotion of the machine get louder, and Jojora's screams of protest turn into screams of pain. Eventually, Jojora came out the other end of the machine, but she was now a small, dome shaped robot.

"GREATINGS, MASTER ROBOTNIK." The now roboticized Jojora said, "HOW MAY I SERVE YOU?"

"You can help the other robots in the construction of my base." Eggman sneered, "Now, go!"

"YES, MASTER."

Jojora hovered off, ready to perform her mindless, robotic duties.

"Well, it appears that the Mean Bean-Steaming Machine is still fully functional!" Eggman began, "Everything is going according to plan! Grounder!"

"Yes, your evilness?"

"I have a little mission for you. You remember how I sent out Scratch a while back to help that Wario guy get the Chaos Emeralds, right?"

"Yeah! I think that's one of the first missions you sent him on alone!"

"Well, it didn't seem to turn out well for him... I haven't heard from him since. I want you to go to Angel Island and find him, ok?"

"Yowza! My first solo mission! You betcha, boss!... I mean, of course, your egg-shaped-ness."

Grounder immediately left to go on his mission, leaving Eggman alone for a moment to think. Quietly, he turned and looked back at the Mean Bean-Steaming Machine.

"If I work fast..." he mumbled to himself, "I could turn this entire kingdom into little robotic beans before they know what hit them! HA!"


	35. Computer Trouble

Back at Team Chaotix HQ, Mario was preparing to upload the computer chip he 'borrowed' from Omega onto Vector's laptop, while Vector, Espio, and Charmy looked on. Luigi, meanwhile, was busy taking a nap on the sofa. Apparently, being dead for about five minutes took a lot out of him.

"Well, okay-dokey..." Mario began as he located Omega's files on the desktop, "Here goes nothing..."

Mario double-clicked on the icon... and got an error screen.

"I guess that would count as nothing..." Vector groaned.

"Aw, man! I knew it!" Charmy shouted, "The computers that control Eggman's robots must use a different operating system than Vec's laptop! We should've converted it so it could function on Vec's laptop _before_ we tried to upload it!"

"Um... Guys?" Mario interrupted.

"Since when was he such a tech know-it-all?" Espio asked.

"Guys?"

"I dunno." Vector grumbled, "Must be that channel he watches on TV all day."

"GUYS!"

"WHAT?" All three yelled in unison.

Mario just pointed at the screen, which had changed from an error screen to a rather threatening message.

"PLEASE ENTER PASSWORD OR BE TERMINATED. YOU HAVE ONE MINUTE."

"Oh, wonderful..." Espio moaned.

"Don't tell me," Vector muttered, "That's been on the screen for fifty seconds."

"Fifty-five." Mario corrected.

"Hey, relax!" Charmy replied, "It's just a laptop! How can Eggman's security system 'terminate' us?"

Almost as if on-cue, Vector's laptop began shaking violently. Then, it blew up. After the smoke settled, all that remained was a pile of ash... with Omega's chip, completely unharmed, sitting on top.

"Ah... That's how..."

"MY LAPTOP!" Vector cried.

"Ok... That was clearly ineffective." Mario groaned, picking up the chip and placing it back in his pocket "I guess what we need is someone who can hack into the files without setting off the firewall. I bet E. Gadd could probably do it."

"And Tails is pretty good around computers as well." Espio continued, "I'm sure he could do it as well."

"But... But... MY LAPTOP!" Vector continued to sob.

"Oh, shut up about your laptop!" Espio demanded, "No one cares."

"I do..."

"AHH! GET OFF ME! DON'T KILL ME!"

Everyone turned around and saw Luigi going into convulsions, screaming at the top of his lungs! They all stood there for a moment, dumbfounded as Luigi continued to wrestle with an invisible enemy.

"Momma mia! I knew Luigi sometimes got nightmares, but nothing _this_ bad!"

"Well, his screaming is starting to really make my head throb," Vector retorted, "Should we shut him up or wake him up?"

"Oh! I'll wake him up!" Charmy volunteered, "Let me do it! Me! Me!"

"Um, I don't think Charmy should be the one to wake up my bro---"

Too late. Charmy already flew up into the air and dive-bombed, stinger first, into Luigi's butt. This quickly woke Luigi up, but he was still screaming (now in pain) as he jumped ten feet into the air and drove his head into the ceiling! After a little bit of struggling, he managed to pull his head out and fell with a 'thud' back onto the couch.

"Woah... Sorry 'bout that, guys..." Luigi apologized, "I've been getting these weird nightmares lately involving Giga Bowser and... Say! That reminds me!"

Luigi pulled out a CD from his pocket. It looked a little battered from his encounter with Omega, but it still looked functional.

"I snuck into one of Eggman's old bases and found a computer with journal entries he had written! That giant tin can got the drop on me while I was burning them to this disk! If you guys have a computer, I can show you the entries!"

"Well, we _had_ one..." Espio mumbled, pointing to the pile of ash that use to be Vector's laptop, "But we're gonna need a new one now."

"Aw, nuts... If only we knew where Gadd was... Wait a second! Why didn't I think of this before?"

Luigi dug into his other pocked and pulled out what looked like a Gameboy Color.

"Hey, cool!" Charmy commented, "Do you happen to have Link's Awakening on that?"

"Wait, wha?... This isn't a Gameboy _Color_, it's a Gameboy _Horror_! It's a communication device E. Gadd gave me when I first met him! So, if I just try to reach him on this..."

Luigi turned it on and, sure enough, Gadd appeared on the screen!

"Huh? Luigi?" Gadd began, "Hey! Long time no see, my boy! How have you been? And is that Mario with you? Nice to see you're both safe!"

"Hold on!" Vector shouted, "We spent all this time lookin' for this guy, and green here knew right where to find him?"

"Who's that?"

"Oh, that's Vector," Luigi explained, "He runs a detective agency in Sonic's world. Speaking of which, you don't happen to know where he is, do you?"

"Do I ever! In fact, I heard that he rid all of Yoshi's Island of the robots! He seems to be giving Mario a run for money here! Heh, heh!"

Mario didn't comment.

"Uh, Right. How about Tails? Or Knuckles and Amy? We haven't seen them since we left to save Sonic!"

"Um... This is going to take me a while to explain..."

E. Gadd explained the entire situation involving Lady Bow to the Mario Bros. and Team Chaotix.

"Knux as a ghostbuster... Can you imagine it?" Espio muttered.

"Oh, dear... This is bad." Mario moaned, "I know Lady Bow personally, so if I could just somehow get over there, I might be able to convince her to let them go, before Knuckles gets himself in more trouble."

"Funny you should mention that..." Gadd started, "Because I have been working on something that has suddenly become _very_ useful..."

Gadd turned around for a moment and started doing something on the computer behind him. Suddenly, the ground started shaking under the Chaotix Detective Agency HQ and a giant green pipe ripped through the floor boards!

"What the heck is that?" Vector questioned... rather loudly.

"That is my latest invention: The Warping Warp Pipe. Essentially, it's a warp pipe that has one end in my lab while I can make the other end appear wherever I want! It's quite useful for quick escapes or, in your case, quick access to the Mushroom Kingdom."

"Cool." Mario stated, climbing in, "So, what are we waiting for? Letsa go!"

"Wait just one moment!" Vector interrupted, "... Let me pack my things."

"You're coming, too?" Luigi asked.

"Why not? It's boring 'round here!"

"Sounds good to me!" Charmy agreed.

"Hmph... Fine," Espio also (reluctantly) agreed, "Count me in."

After a few moments, everyone was ready, and they all jumped into the warp pipe leading to the Mushroom Kingdom... and a little 'talking to' to Lady Bow.

Editor's Note: Just to let you all know, I'm going on vacation starting tomorrow, so don't expect to hear from me 'til August.


	36. Scarlette

When Rouge came to, she slowly got up and observed her surroundings. There was dense jungle growth everywhere, and the smell of seawater lingered pretty strongly in the atmosphere.

"Hmm... I must have crash landed on some sort of tropical island," Rouge pondered, "at least I'm away from that bonehead Bowser... Hey, I think someone's coming!"

Rouge dived behind the bushes and watched as another person emerged on the jungle path. She appeared to be a mouse, wearing high heels and a mask, and had a tail curled into the shape of a heart. As she continued walking, she would stop once in a while to sniff the air around her. After a little bit of this, she eventually traced the scent to a hollow log, which she looked inside and pulled out what she was looking for: a gold, diamond-shaped object.

_She has a 'scent' for finding jewels?_ Rouge thought to herself, _How very interesting..._

"It's too bad that hunk of cheese Mario isn't around anymore," the mouse sighed, "during my adventures with him, I found _really_ nice treasures, like badges. Now, this is the best I can do... Oh well, can't let the past affect me. I am the world-famous thief, Ms. Mowz, after all!"

_World-famous thief? That's my line! How dare she!_

However, a distant noise interrupted both Ms. Mowz's laments and Rouge's thoughts. While it was hard to figure out what it was at first, it slowly came closer, and sounded a lot like not one, but _two_ ships!

"Two ships? One of them must have something good to steal!" Ms. Mowz exclaimed, "I better go investigate!"

Ms. Mowz immediately ran off, with Rouge following closely, though undetected, behind.

_This woman is threatening **my** title of the world's best thief! I absolutely can not and will not stand for that!_

* * *

On the coast of Keelhaul Key was a small shantytown that served as a small, yet effective trading post for ships passing by. Most of its inhabitants were crew members of one of Flavio's earlier ventures on the island that didn't end well, but there were no hard feelings whenever Flavio came by again, since they remained on the island by choice. Although the makeshift village was use to even the most unusual visitors, they were quite surprised when, along with Favio and his trading vessel, Wario, in a pink boat no less, came upon their shores.

"Ok," Wario began as he first got on the beach, "Let me make one thing clear before ANYONE asks... I did NOT choose this boat's paint color!" he then pointed at Cream, who was just coming up onto the deck, "she did."

"Who's that?" one of the Toads who lived in the tiny town asked.

"Just some annoying kid who insisted on joining me, the great Wario, in an epic adventure in which I bravely---"

"Hey, look everyone!" another toad interrupted, "It's Admiral Bobbery on the other ship!"

All the toads immediately forgot about Wario and ran over to the other ship to greet the famous Admiral.

"Well! It's nice to receive such a warm welcome," Bobbery exclaimed as toads gathered around near the bow of the ship, "It's been a while since I was last here. Much too long, I'd say."

"Yeah!" one of the toads agreed, "We've missed you, old friend, and we'll never forget what you did for us. Without you, this island would still be cursed by those pirate ghosts!"

"Whoa! Hold on for a second!" Wario yelled as he pushed himself through the crowd, "YOU were the one who got rid of all the ghosts here?"

"Not by myself," Bobbery denied, "although I've become somewhat of a legend for it, I really couldn't have done it without Mario."

"WHAT? THAT LOSER? How come he gets all the credit for everything that happens around here and I don't? I single-handedly defeated Captain Syrup and the Sugar Pirates and I get squat didley!"

"Except all of their treasure, which is probably all you care about, anyway."

Completely shut down, Wario stormed off back to his ship, passing Cream and Cheese along the way.

"Are you all right, Mr. Wario?" Cream asked.

"Eh, shut up. I'm goin' back to my quarters and I ain't comin' out for any reason till tomorrow."

Wario went back down into the bottom of his ship, slamming the doors as he entered for extra effect.

"Gee, I wonder what's wrong with Mr. Wario, Cheese." Cream sighed.

"Chao, chao!" Cheese agreed.

"Well, Flavio says that man is a jerk, anyway!" began Flavio, who had finally got the group to quiet down, "Flavio is famished. Shall we begin to have a little dinner?"

At the mention of the word 'dinner', the doors on Wario's boat flew open and Wario came rushing out.

"DINNER? YEHAW! COUNT ME IN!"

Dinner was a pleasant time. Flavio proved his worth as a decent chef by whipping up a tasty dish from what the people from the small village found on the island, while Cream brought the cheep-cheep she and Wario caught and cooked earlier. While everyone was eating, Flavio continued to entertain everyone with 'true' stories of his previous adventures out at sea along with a few renditions of _Boom-Bassa-Boom Festival_ (despite the fact that Bobbery outlawed that song earlier). Meanwhile, the sun was starting to set upon the ocean, causing the sky to turn a beautiful red. At this point, Bobbery excused himself from dinner and went back aboard his ship. Curious, Cream tried to follow, but Flavio stopped her.

"Flavio thinks Admiral Bobbery wants some alone time now," Flavio requested, "He always does this during beautiful sunsets like today's."

"Don't worry, Mr. Flavio," Cream assured him as she kept on going, "I'm sure he won't mind."

Cream walked across to the back of the ship and found Bobbery standing there, looking out over the ocean, which was now turning red also as the sun approached it.

"Mr. Bobbery? What are you doing here?" Cream questioned, "Why don't you stay with us for the rest of dinner?"

"It's just that, during gorgeous sunsets, ones that make the sea and the sky turn a crimson red," Bobbery explained, "I think about my wife, Scarlette."

"Scarlette?" Cream repeated, now sitting down next to Bobbery, "That's a pretty name."

"Yes, she was the most beautiful bob-omb an old sea dog like me could ever ask for. We met when we were both put on the S.S. Mushroom, a battleship used in case Bowser ever fought on the seas. I was a mere skipper, and she was a nurse. During a nasty skirmish against one of Bowser's Doom Ships, I wound up in the sick bay, and she was the one who tended my wounds. After the ship was retired from duty, and I got a new job in the merchant business, I proposed to her. Obviously, she said yes, and, boy, we made a happy couple. She understood that I loved the sea, and I had to be away on it for long periods of time, and she patiently waited, never losing faith that I would return. I loved her, and she loved me..."

"And then what happened?" Cream asked.

The sun had just touched the ocean at this point, and the sky turned an even deeper red as Bobbery continued.

"One fateful day, while I was out on a merchant trip, I received word that my wife had caught a deathly flu. I immediately charted course for home, putting my entire business on the line, but I was too late: By the time I reached her... She was gone. As I looked at her body one last time before they closed the coffin, I swore never again to go out to sea. It caused me to lose my wife, I wasn't going to let it take any more away from me. Sadly, there wasn't much left to take from me, anyway. I spent years locked away in a small house in Rougeport, only coming out occasionally to look at the ocean and consider letting it take me, too. I'd probably still be there to this day if..."

"If what?"

"A feller by the name of Mario came by once and asked me to commandeer a ship to Keelhaul Key. At first, I said no, but he came back later with a letter Scarlette wrote to me on her deathbed, which I still have to this day. It asked me to forgive myself for letting this happen to her and to go back out on the sea again, for she knew I loved the sea as much as her, and she didn't want me to lose even more. Now, as I sail the seas once more, I can feel Scarlette watching me from above, smiling. Someday, I hope the time will come when I will be able to see her again."

The sun was now almost completely engulfed by the ocean, and it began to get dark.

"Look, I'm sorry if I upset you with that story or anything---"

"It's okay. I didn't mind. You'll see her again, I know you will!"

"Thanks... You're such a sweet girl. The kind me and Scarlette wished to have as a daughter. Alas, it was not meant to be..."

"... Sigh, I feel sorry for you," Cream suddenly yawned, "Wow, I'm starting to get... pretty... sleepy..."

Cream slowly drifted off and fell to sleep on the deck. Gently, Bobbery took a nearby cover for a lifeboat and put it on her as a blanket. As the last rays of light slowly disappeared under the water, Bobbery looked to the sky one last time

_Perhaps this is what it's like being a father... Scarlette, thank you._


	37. Boo Brawl

Sonic was running. Not a surprising statement. Once he single-handedly saved Yoshi's Island, he found himself at a dead end: Because Grounder managed to keep his mouth shut on the location of Eggman's new base, he had no idea where he should head next. Whenever Sonic found himself in a rut like this, he simply began to run wherever he felt like to clear his thoughts. Unfortunately, after two hours (and countless circumnavigations of the Mushroom Kingdom), all clues still eluded him. It seemed like Eggman simply vanished into thin air!

He was still rattling his brain as he entered a rather spooky-looking forest. In fact, he was so deep in thought, he wasn't watching where he was going, and ran head-on into something... hard. Getting back onto his feet, Sonic noticed that he was standing in front of a huge, old, decrepit mansion, and that the thing he ran into was a giant blue pipe. Even more surprising was the fact that, standing in front of the mansion, looking up at it, was none other than his old pal Knuckles, who he hadn't seen since he was on the pollution-covered Angel Island. However, he noticed something odd about Knuckles: On his back was what looked like a vacuum cleaner!

"Woah! Hey, Knux!" Sonic greeted, "Long time no see! Whatcha doin' way out here and what's with that thing on your back?"

"Sonic! 'Bout time you showed up!" Knuckles growled, "I heard all about your crazy stunts on that island! Meanwhile, while you're showing off, I'm dealing with something important!"

"You're not answering my question..." Sonic reminded.

"Grr... Look, Tails and Amy are trapped in that mansion and I gotta save them! You can come if you like, but I'm not gonna help you if you get in trouble!"

"Gee, what are they trapped under, a mountain of dust?"

"Wha?..." Knuckles mumbled before he realized that Sonic was referring to the Poltergeist 3000 strapped to his back, "Hey, I didn't come up with this thing! That crazy Gadd guy did! He said it's the only way to take care of..."

"Of what?"

Suddenly, the doors to the mansion blew open and hundreds of boos came flying out.

"Of these things!" Knuckles answered as he pulled out the nozzle of the Poltergeist 3000 and pointed it at the oncoming army.

"BOO! Blegh, heh, heh!" the boos all laughed in unison, almost as if they were one entity, "Looks like Red has come back for more! And he's brought a friend, too! Well, I guess we'll just..." they immediately stopped taunting when they saw what Knuckles was pointing at them, "Wait a second... Is that... No, it can't be... EVERYONE RUN! HE'S GOT A POLTERGEIST 3000!"

The boos began to completely freak out, flying around all over the place randomly before disappearing in a cloud of white smoke.

"What the?..." Sonic uttered, "What the heck did you do? They took one look at that thing you have strapped to your back and they all ran like scared rabbits!"

"I didn't do anything..." Knuckles replied, "... Yet. Come on, Tails and Amy are inside there, and we've got to rescue them!"

* * *

Inside the mansion, Lady Bow, who was not aware of the going ons outside, was busy admiring her 'living artwork'.

"You better let us out right now!" Amy screeched, "Because Knuckles will come back for us, I know he will! And when he does, he'll kick your little ghostly butt into another country!"

"Amy..." Tails muttered, "Could you give it a rest?"

"NO! I'm not giving up until this stupid ghost either lets us out or we're saved!"

"I'd suggest you shut your mouth now, missy!" Bow snapped, "Because I'm willing to 'change' artwork I don't like."

"What the heck do you mean by that?"

"In case you haven't realized, you are a mere painting," Bow began as she opened a drawer and pulled out a paint brush, "Meaning that whatever I do to your painting, I do to you. Since you're getting on my nerves, I shall demonstrate this. However, to show the kind of woman I am, I shall give you the choice: Do you want green stripes all over your body or your head completely orange?"

Bow approached Amy, wielding the paintbrush like a sword. Amy, realizing that she really blew it, began to wince, bracing for an unwilling color change. Fortunately, right before Bow began her work, Bootler appeared.

"Lady Bow!" Bootler reported, "I have received word that two rodents, one going by the name 'Sonic' and the other 'Knuckles', have engaged in combat with the boos outside the mansion! 'Knuckles' was the one that escaped from his portrait last night, correct?"

"Sonic and Knuckles are both out there?" Tails yelled in disbelief.

"SONIKKU!" Amy squealed, "HE'S COME TO RESCUE ME!"

"Hmm... Yes, I believe so," Bow sneered, ignoring Tails and Amy's comments, "Hard to believe that he would be such a fool as to return, even if he does have backup."

"But there is more!" Bootler continued, "It appears that 'Knuckles' has a Poltergeist 3000 with him! This certainly makes things a bit more dangerous!"

"Heh, heh, so? He probably doesn't even know how to use that thing. I'm not afraid."

After Lady Bow had said this, the doors to her room opened, and Sonic and Knuckles came running in.

"SONIKKU!" Amy cried, "OVER HERE!"

Since this was the first time Sonic actually saw what had happened to Tails and Amy, he was a little shocked when he first saw them.

"Whoa! THAT'S what you meant when you said they were trapped? They're inside paintings!"

"So, you're Sonic, hmm?" Bow asked, "The pink rat seems to hold you in quite a high regard. I think you'd make a good addition to my collection!"

"Yeah, right! If you want me, ya gonna have to catch me first!"

And with that, Sonic rev'd up and blasted off, racing around the room at high speed, making it impossible for Lady Bow to trap him in a painting. Undaunted by this, however, Bow snapped her fingers, and tons of boos suddenly filled the room.

"Catch that little rat!" Bow demanded, "And bring him to me! I want to cast him into the painting myself!"

All the boos obliged and began chasing after Sonic. Of course, Sonic was too fast for any to catch up to him, but the sheer quantity of boos was enough to make things challenging. Meanwhile, while Sonic was luring the boos all over the place, Knuckles sprung into action. He pointed the nozzle of the Poltergeist 3000 up at the boos in front of him and turned it on. Since there were boos everywhere, it wasn't hard at all for Knuckles to bag them by the bunch. It also didn't take long for Lady Bow to notice this.

"What are you doing?" Bow yelled, "Can't you see what's happening? The blue rat is acting as bait! Get the red one! THE RED ONE!"

The mayhem continued, until Sonic, not looking at where he was going, ran right into Knuckles! After somersaulting a few times, Sonic and Knuckles found themselves sprawled out on the floor, surrounded by boos. If that wasn't embarrassing enough, the nozzle of the Poltergeist 3000 was stuck on Sonic's nose!

"Hey, ged dis ding off my nose!" Sonic moaned, pulling on the nozzle until it popped off.

"Well, now that I have you two, it looks like my collection is complete. Heh, heh, heh..." Bow snickered, "So, who wants to become a masterpiece first?"

"I don't believe that either one of them want to," came a voice from behind Lady Bow, who, at the moment, had her back towards the door. Turning around, she found herself staring down the nozzle of _another_ Poltergeist 3000! And this time, the person using it was _much_ more experienced!

"Hey, everyone!" Tails called out, "It's Luigi!

"L-L-Luigi?" Bow shuttered, turning very pale, even by ghost standards, "What are you doing here?"

"Simple," Luigi replied, "I want you to let my friends go."

"What? You mean these furballs? They intruded on my property! They deserve to be trapped in paintings for all eternity! Besides, it's not like you did anything worthy of me giving you a favor!"

"That's-a very true, but I believe there's someone else who you might show a little more respect to..."

Suddenly, another person entered the room: Mario!

"Ah! Mario!" Lady Bow greeted in a pleasant tone, "How nice of you to... drop... by..."

Bow trailed off when she noticed that Mario didn't look too pleased, either. He had his arms crossed across his chest and he was tapping his foot, obviously none too happy about what Lady Bow was doing.

"Hey, look here!" Lady Bow protested, "These rodents were snooping around my property. What do want me to do, invite them over for tea?"

"Lady Bow," Mario began, "you are my friend. I helped you when the boos were threatened by Tubba Blubba, and you helped me through the rest of that adventure. So, as a friend, I am asking you let Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Knuckles go."

"All of them? But... But... That red furball just sucked up a bunch of boos into that infernal contraption!"

"Fine. How about a deal: He'll release all the boos he captured if you free my friends."

"He will?"

"I will?" Knuckles asked, in equal confusion.

"Yes, he will," Mario answered, holding out his hand to Bow, "So, Lady Bow, do we have a deal?"

"Deal!" Lady Bow agreed, shaking Mario's hand, "But keep in mind I only make deals like this with people I like, and that isn't many of them!"

Bow signaled to the boos surrounding Sonic and Knuckles, and they disappeared in a puff of smoke, just like they did outside.

"Right..." Mario mumbled, "Alright, Knuckles, you can free those boos you got now."

"Sure, ok," Knuckles replied, trying to look at the Poltergeist 3000 on his back without much success, "Is there a 'reverse' switch on this thing?"

"I think so," Luigi explained, "It's back there somewhere; just feel around for it."

"Grr..." Knuckles growled, unsuccessfully trying to throw his arms around the back of the Poltergeist 3000 and feel for the switch, "I can't find it anywhere! Where is it?"

"Hey, calm down! I'll help."

Luigi walked around to Knuckles' backside and quickly found the switch he was looking for. Upon flipping it, the Poltergeist 3000 began shooting the boos back out at a fast rate... Perhaps a little _too_ fast. The kick-back from the boos being launched out propelled Knuckles and Luigi backwards into a wall! Both of them were dazed, but pretty much fine afterwards. Once she saw that the boos were free, Bow floated up to the paintings of Tails and Amy, took them off the wall, and handed them to Mario.

"A deal's a deal," Bow stated, "here's the pictures. Actually, now that I think about it, maybe turning them into portraits wasn't a good idea to begin with. I mean, yellow and pink kind of clash with the décor of the place..."

"Wait a second!" Amy shouted, "Aren't you gonna free us? We don't want to be stuck as paintings forever!"

"Don't push it, kid." Bow groaned, "That Professor Elvin Gadd guy can fix you if you really don't want to be a portrait. Personally, I think it's an improvement."

"Okey-dokey!... Oph!... Thanks!" Mario tried to get out from under the weight of two paintings, "Gee, these things are kinda... ugh... Heavy! Could someone take one of these, please?"

Luigi quickly grabbed the picture of Tails, lightening Mario's load... but only in the literal sense.

"Hey! Why am I being carried by Mario?" Amy yelled, "I want to be carried by Sonic!"

"Huh? Uh, boy... Sonic," Mario moaned, "do you mind?"

"If it shuts her up, fine." Sonic replied, taking the Amy portrait off of Mario's hands.

"Oh, I'm being carried off by my hero..." Amy sighed, "... How romantic!"

"Is she always liked this?" Luigi asked Tails.

"Yeah... always..."

Eventually, after a few goodbyes with a somewhat humbled Lady Bow, the odd group of two humans, a hedgehog, an echidna, and two portraits left the mansion. They knew what their next stop had to be: Professor Elvin Gadd's laboratory, in order to fix Tails' and Amy's 'picture perfect' problem.


	38. A Game of Bat and Mouse

Believe it or not, Scratch was _still_ stuck on Angel Island, tied to that tree in Wario's underwear. Fortunately for him, he was a robot, so he didn't have to worry about basic needs like eating. However, even then, it was still a little draining for him to be tied up there for so long.

"Aw, man..." Scratch moaned, "I'm never gonna get outa this. I'll never see the Death Egg again, or Dr. Robotnik, or all those little annoying Egg Pawn things... Sigh... I'm gonna be stuck here forever..."

Suddenly, Scratch heard what sounded like a drill behind him. But, it wasn't just any drill. It sounded very familiar... Turning around the best he could, Scratch saw it was, indeed, an old friend of his.

"Grounder!" Scratch shouted, "Is that really you? What are you doing here?

"Robotnik told me to go and find you," Grounder explained, using his drill-hands to cut the undies that were binding Scratch, "He said you would be somewhere on Angel Island, and he even gave me a small aircraft to make it easy to get here! So, dare I ask exactly _why_ you're tied to a tree in someone's underwear?"

"It's a long story..."

Scratch was interrupted when they both heard a loud boom nearby. Walking over to investigate, Scratch and Grounder found an unconscious Bowser lying in a crater!

"Say, isn't that the monster that went on a rampage through the Death Egg?" Grounder asked.

"Yeah... Although I think he joined forces with Robonik afterwards. But what's up with him just randomly crash landing here?"

"I dunno. Should I take him back to Robotnik, also?"

"Wait a second... 'I'? How about 'we'? Just because you rescued me doesn't mean you can take all the credit for saving that guy!"

"Alright, fine. Should _we_ take him back to Robotnik?"

"Much better. I'll take the head and you take the feet."

Even though Bowser was quite heavy, Scratch and Grounder managed to lift him up off the ground somewhat easily, and they began to carry him as best they could back to Eggman, thus reuniting the two villains...

* * *

It was almost midnight at Keelhaul Key, and everyone was sleeping soundly on the beach. The only ones awake were a couple of Toads guarding Flavio's merchant ship. But, in the shadows, two forms moved through the darkness, only one of them aware of the other's presence. 

"Hmm... One of Flavio's ships..." Ms. Mowz mused to herself, peeking over some foliage to observe the beach, "So, I'll bet that it has lots of pretty little badges for me to steal! Sigh... all in a day's work for a world-famous thief!"

Ms. Mowz leaped out of hiding and quickly, yet quietly, ran across the sand towards the boat. Meanwhile, Rouge was crouching in a tree above where Ms. Mowz was hiding originally, watching her every move.

"Hmph! All she wants to steal is badges? How dare she use _my_ title for such a petty crime! I'll show her!"

Rouge jumped from the tree and, using her wings, glided over to Flavio's vessel. Once she reached the side of the ship, she dug her feet into the hull and began to scale downwards towards one of the portholes. Peering inside, Rouge watched as Ms. Mowz began her heist.

Two toads were marching around in where the cargo was stored on the ship. The boxes pilled right up to the roof of the room, making it almost like a labyrinth to navigate. However, the toads were use to it, and were quite comfortable making their rounds. Even when one of the toads returned to the starting point and the other didn't, he wasn't too worried.

"Huh? Where'd he go?" the toad pondered to himself, "Eh... He probably got lost in all the cargo. It happens to the best of... OPH!"

The toad stumbled for a minute before falling over. Behind him was Ms. Mowz, who had knocked him out with her bare hands.

"Heh, when you have the element of surprise, even a weak hit, if struck in the right place, can knock a foe out," Ms. Mowz commented, "now to find his partner."

Ms. Mowz, despite never having navigated the cargo hold previously, effortlessly ran though it, trying to find the other toad patrolling the area. She found him, all right: he was lying unconscious on the floor!

"What the?... Did he just fall to sleep? No..." Ms. Mowz investigated the body and found some marks around his neck, "Someone did a sleeper hold on him! But who? Certainly not me..."

Glancing upward, Ms. Mowz saw the form of a bat hanging from the ceiling! Upon realizing that she saw her, the bat dropped down in front of Ms. Mowz.

"What? Who are you?" Ms. Mowz stuttered in shock.

"I am Rouge the Bat," Rouge answered, "The treasure hunter, Rouge, and the world's greatest thief."

"Hey, what are you saying? _I'm_ the world's greatest thief, not you!"

"Heh, very likely," Rouge remarked sarcastically, "I _am_, indeed, the greatest thief. That title does not belong to some little rat with a heart-shaped tail wearing a mask!"

"WHAT? WHY YOU LITTLE... I am NOT a rat, I am a mouse, and how dare you insult my tail! It takes me two hours with a curling iron every morning to make it do that!"

Ms. Mowz did what any raged-filled woman does: She slapped Rouge across the face. Rouge retaliated, however, by delivering a sharp kick, sending Ms. Mowz sprawling across the room and into one of the high-piled stacks of boxes.

"Oh... NOW you're gonna get it..." Ms. Mowz growled as she immediately got back up and ran towards Rouge again. As she was running towards her, she began leaping around everywhere, trying to disorient Rouge. Rouge, however, being a thief herself, wasn't easily confused, and quickly located Ms. Mowz and gave her another kick in the face. This time, when Ms. Mowz slammed into the boxes, she knocked a tower of them over, making a large commotion.

"Oh, great! So much for my cover!" Ms. Mowz cried, "Well, I'm not staying here any longer! Farewell! I hope you enjoy getting captured!"

Ms. Mowz began to run towards one of the portholes and attempted to jump out. However, Rouge prevented her in from doing so by grabbing onto her tail. This angered Ms. Mowz even more, so she turned around and slapped Rouge so hard, it knocked her to the floor!

"DON'T TOUCH THE TAIL! You're going to mess it up!"

"Like I really give a crud about your tail!" Rouge yelled as she got back up onto her feet, "When I'm through with you, you'll be lucky if that's the only thing that's messed up!"

* * *

While the battle of the thieves was going on inside the ship, the commotion it was making was slowly starting to wake up everyone who was sleeping outside. 

"Whoa... Wha iz it... Mornin' already?..." Wario groaned as he slowly came to, "And I was in the middle of a good dream about those Chaos Emeralds too..."

"Huh? What in the blazes is going on aboard the ship?" Bobbery pondered as he got up and looked towards where all the noise was coming from.

"Mr. Bobbery?..." Cream asked, "Are we being robbed?"

"OH NO!" Flavio shrieked (like a little girl), "THE MERCHANT SHIP IS BEING ROBBED! AND THE HOUSE OF FLAVIO'S FAMILY HEIRLOOM IS STILL ON BOARD! IF THE THIEF SEES IT, IT'S SURE TO BE STOLEN! WE MUST STOP HIM!"

Falvio, still in his pajamas, began racing towards the ship. Everyone else, including some toads, quickly followed. Meanwhile, back inside the vessel, Ms. Mowz and Rouge were still battling it out. Although the two thieves sometimes broke up and tried to employ stealth tactics, the majority of the fight was up close and personal.

"Let go of my wings, you rotten rat!" Rouge yelled as she attempted to fly.

"Not until you stop grabbing my tail!" Ms. Mowz retorted, "I swear, if you mess it up, I'll have it permanently done at the salon, and you'll be paying for it!"

"WHAT? Stop whining about your stupid tail! I don't care!"

Rouge then kicked Ms. Mowz and was successful in making her let go of her wings. However, as Rouge began to fly higher, Ms. Mowz grabbed onto her leg and brought both of them down to earth. They landed square on one of the boxes, shattering it, and revealing its contents. To the surprise of both of them, a radiant, blue, crystalline star fell out of the box and onto the floor.

"What on earth is that?" Ms. Mowz muttered, "Is it... One of the Crystal Stars?"

"A Crystal Star, hmm?" Rouge began, "Sounds like something quite valuable! Surely you wouldn't mind if I take it..."

"Don't you dare!" Ms. Mowz screamed as she leaped towards where the star laid. Unfortunately, Rouge got there first and claimed it.

"My, my, I thought you only cared about badges... Why would you want this?"

While Rouge was tossing it up and down in her hand, Ms. Mowz noticed something even more shocking: The 'Crystal Star' looked like Muskular!

"Wait! That isn't a Crystal Star!" Ms. Mowz cried, "That's one of the Star Spirits!"

"Crystal Stars... Star Spirits... Whatever. It's mine now!"

Rouge was about to leave and Ms. Mowz was about to attack when the doors to the cargo hold suddenly opened and in walked Admiral Bobbery, Flavio, Wario, and Cream (with Cheese, naturally).

"IEEE!" Flavio shrieked, "IT'S _TWO_ THIEFS! AND THEY HAVE THE HEIRLOOM!"

"What the... Ms. Mowz? What are you doing here?" Bobbery questioned.

"Oh my, Cheese... What's going on?" Cream mumbled worryingly.

"Chao, chao..." Cheese replied in equal confusion.

"WOO-HOO! CATFIGHT!" Wario shouted, "Where'd I put my camera?"

Upon seeing that they were both caught, Ms. Mowz and Rouge both began to play 'the blame game.'

"She started it!" Ms. Mowz yelled, pointing at Rouge, "She was attempting to rob the ship and I was trying to stop her!"

"WHAT? You were the one who snuck in to begin with!" Rouge retaliated, "And just so you could steal a bunch of stupid badges!"

"Badges are _not_ stupid! Besides, you were just about to make off with that Star Spirit... Crystal... thing!"

"Are you saying this is all **my** fault? Listen, hun, if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't even have been involved in all this!"

"Alright... That does it..."

Ms. Mowz and Rouge began to duke it out again, much to the dismay of Bobbery. When he turned to see what the others were doing, he didn't feel much relief: Flavio was still crying over his heirloom, Cream and Cheese were covering their eyes, trying to avoid seeing such violence, and Wario was busy using his video camera to record the entire fight. Frustrated, Bobbery, being a bob-omb, lit the fuse on his head and began to walk straight towards the brawl. By the time he reached it, the fuse had just about run out, and he exploded... literally. This immediately got everyone's attention, especially Ms. Mowz and Rouge's.

"How about we do this in an orderly fashion, hmm?" Bobbery began, seemingly unharmed at all from the explosion, "What happened here?"

Ms. Mowz and Rouge, both of whom were completely covered in ash, didn't reply. They stood there for a moment, still in prettifying shock from the explosion, and suddenly fell over unconscious!

"Hmph... So much for that idea, I guess..."

"Hey, man, you messed up my movie!" Wario complained, "And I was gonna sell on the streets for big bucks, too... Jerk."

Flavio ran over and claimed back his heirloom, the Emerald Star, and gave it a big hug.

"Whew! Flavio thought you were a goner! But you are safe, and Flavio is relieved."

"Gee, does that freak always refer to himself in the third person?" Wario mumbled.

"I wonder what Rouge was doing here, Cheese?" Cream asked.

"Chao, chao..."

"Wait a sec," Wario interrupted, "You knew who that bat bozo was?"

"Well, Mr. Sonic told me a few stories about her, but not much else."

"Oh, great. Another humanoid animal I have to deal with..."

"Mr. Bobbery?" Cream continued, ignoring Wario's remarks, "What are we going to do with Ms. Rouge?"

"I don't really know," Bobbery replied as a few toads began to lift the bodies of the thieves "I guess we'll keep her and Ms. Mowz locked up in separate rooms until we return to Rougeport, where they will receive a fair trail."

"Phff... Yeah, right..." Wario muttered under his breath, "Methinks that any place that has a _hangman's noose_ as the centerpiece in the town square probably doesn't have 'fair' trails..."

* * *

Sir Grodus looked out into the bleak, emptiness of space. He was still plotting his revenge on the Shadow Queen. If he could resurrect and bring her under his control with an Emerald Star, would he still have to provide a female sacrifice for her to possess? If so, the challenge would be even greater. Princess Peach would certainly never return to Rougeport after what happened to her last time, so he would need to find another woman to use. Perhaps someone from the other world that had combined with the Mushroom Kingdom?... 

Suddenly, Lord Crump appeared on the communication link's screen again, interrupting Grodus' thoughts. After giving the X-Naut salute, he debriefed his situation.

"Hey, Gro-dude!... I mean...Grodus... erm... **Sir** Grodus..."

"Shut up, fool, and tell me what has happened. Did you find Flavio and his 'heirloom'?"

"Uh, right. Well, we tracked down Flavio to Keelhaul Key, but we really can't attack until he sets out again, which is probably tomorrow, as best as I can guess. Of course, we can't attack in broad daylight, so we'll have to wait until tomorrow night."

"Very well, just make sure you claim the Emerald Star! Oh, and one more thing..." Grodus added, an evil grin forming on his face for the first time in a long while, "We can't have anyone know what we are up to. Destroy the ship, _and leave no survivors_."


	39. Partners

As Mario, Luigi, Sonic, Knuckles and the still painting-trapped Tails and Amy entered Professor Elvin Gadd's laboratory, they weren't only greeted by E. Gadd, but by the Chaotix Detective Agency as well. This surprised Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles a bit, but it was Amy who started to throw a fit about it.

"Hey! What are those losers doing here? They're the ones who tried to kidnap Cheese!"

"Oh, for the millionth time, would you stop bringing that up?" Vector shouted back, "It was a misunderstanding! Why won't you ever let it go?"

"Um... Am I missing something here?" Mario asked.

"Once we were given an assignment to rescue a bunch of wild chao," Espio explained, "and one of Amy's friends we ran into happened to have a domesticated one. Of course, we didn't know that, and, well, you can guess what happened..."

"So, she hates your guts now?" Luigi mumbled.

"Yep..." Charmy moaned, "She still thinks we work for Eggman..."

"Alright, guys, let's not have a fight in here." Gadd requested, "There's too much lab equipment that can get destroyed. Besides, Amy, I don't think you'll be able to do much stuck in that painting

This made Amy sullenly quiet, upset that she pretty much lost the argument. After that, E. Gadd led them (minus the Chaotix, who decided to wait outside, and away from Amy) to an adjacent room. The room was long and narrow, and an equally long machine was set up along the 'front' of the room.

"What is that thing?" Amy asked in astonishment.

"I think that's the Portricationizer." Tails guessed.

"Right you are, my boy!" E. Gadd replied enthusiastically, "I normally use this to turn ghosts into paintings, but, as Mario can testify, it works in reverse as well."

"Hey, wait a sec... Mario got turned into a portrait once, too?" Sonic interrupted.

"Yeah," Mario answered, "A bunch of boos tricked me into thinking me and Luigi won a mansion, I got there before he did and I fell into their trap. Fortunately, Luigi happened to meet up with Gadd before he entered the mansion and got the Poltergeist 3000. With that, he was able to save me."

"So, you had to be saved by your bro? Gee, that would be like Tails saving me... That's pretty pathetic."

"HEY!" Mario, Luigi, and Tails all yelled in unison.

"What?"

"Ahem... Can we hurry up and free them now?" Knuckles grunted.

"I guess I'll go," Tails volunteered.

"Wait just a second, Tails!" Amy retorted, "Haven't you heard the phrase 'ladies first'? **_I_** should go first!"

"Uh... Ok..."

Gadd took Amy's portrait off of Sonic's hands and placed it onto the conveyor belt at the end of the machine. He then turned to Luigi, who was standing near the front of the machine.

"Ok, Luigi, would you mind starting the Portricationizer in reverse?"

"Not at all," Luigi replied, pressing some buttons on a dashboard nearby.

The Portricationizer spurred to life, and the conveyer belt moved Amy's portrait into the machine. Gadd immediately took Tails' portrait and loaded it into the machine in, too.

Their process through the machine didn't look particularly comfortable. They got electrocuted, stamped by a giant presser, and spun around in a washing machine-looking thing before being pumped thought a pipe into a metal box that normally served as a way to unload ghosts from the Poltergeist 3000, and thus, had only a narrow slot in the front for the nozzle. Sonic walked up to the slot and looked inside.

"Tails! Amy! Are you alright in there?" Sonic shouted.

"Uh... Sonic?" Luigi warned, "I don't think you want to stand so close..."

Too late. The metal box shook, and suddenly shot out Tails and Amy like cannonballs! Since Sonic was standing right in the way, he too got blasted back towards the far wall! After the dust settled, Tails was leaning against the wall, a little dazed but otherwise no worse for wear, but Sonic was sitting on the floor and Amy was sitting in his lap!

"Oh, Sonic!" Amy cried as she wrapped her arms around him, "I knew you'd rescue me!"

"UGH! AMY! GET OFF ME!" Sonic shouted, trying to pry himself loose from Amy's grip.

"Wow, that thing... urp!... Really works..." Tails moaned, starting to look a little queasy, "I don't think I feel so good..."

"Yeah, the spinning part got to me, too." Mario agreed, "But it sure beats being trapped in a painting for all eternity!"

"Well, now with that taken care off," E. Gadd began, "We can start focusing on more important things, like those Emerald Stars!"

"Actually," Mario interrupted, "First things first: I need to go to the castle. I think I know someone who really misses me..."

* * *

"A WHA-?... WHADUYA _MEAN_ YOU GOT A PROMOTION?" 

"Simple: I escorted all of Dr. Robotnik's robots away from the Death Egg before Sonic got there and you didn't. Of course I get a promotion and you don't."

"Oh yeah, Needle Nose? Well, Robotnik still likes me more!"

"Whanna bet? I'm his favorite, not you!"

"Really now? Well then, how come _I_ get to stand next to him 24/7 and _you_ have to work in his factories?"

"Because, unlike you, I can actually do stuff! I've got more gadgets in me that you could even comprehend in your little chicken brain! Besides, I don't _work_ in the factories, I'm _head_ of the factories."

"Ha! What a lame excuse! I'm his favorite, and you can't debate that!"

"Yes I can! I'm his favorite!"

"No, I am!"

"I am!"

"I am!"

"I am!"

"WOULD YOU TWO CROME-DOMES SHUT UP? OR DO I HAVE TO BEAT YOU BOTH INTO HUBCAPS?"

Bowser, obviously, was awake, and he wasn't too happy with Scratch and Grounder's constant arguing, which only got worse when Grounder told Scratch about his promotion. At the moment, they had just reached Eggman's new base on Joke's End, which was just about finished. It looked a bit like a factory, but much more sinister, with giant exhaust pipes spewing rather disgusting looking smog into the atmosphere and loud commotion coming from within. As they entered the base, all three of them were greeted by Eggman... and someone who looked _very_ familiar to Bowser.

"Well now, Grounder," Eggman began, "I see you not only found Scratch, but Bowser as well. I think you really deserve that promotion."

Grounder tried to stick his tongue out at Scratch, before realizing that he didn't have one.

"Hey, Doc., long time, no see," Bower greeted, "And... What the... YOU!"

Bowser immediately pointed a claw at Fawful, who was standing right next to Eggman.

"IEE! IT IS HIM! NOW IS MY FLEEING TIME!"

Fawful tried to run away, but Bowser was already on top of him. He hoisted him up by his cape and pined him against the wall.

"YOU'RE THE ONE WHO TURNED ME INTO A WOMAN, YOU FREAK!" Bowser roared at the top of his lungs, "WELL, GUESS WHAT, BUB? I'M GONNA MASH YOU INTO PEA SOUP!"

"IEE! You must be understandingly like! It was a misunderstanding of great confusion!"

"STOP APOLOGIZING, YOU BACKWARDS-SPEAKING BEAN! WHEN I'M THROUGH WITH YOU, YOU'LL BE LUCKY IF YOU DON'T LOOK LIKE SOMEONE PUKED ON THE WALL!"

Bowser pulled back his fist, ready to punch Fawful into next week, when Eggman walked up and tapped Bowser on the shoulder.

"Now, now, Bowser, is that how we treat our guests?" Eggman asked sarcastically, "If it wasn't for our dear friend, Fawful, I'd be locked up in some dungeon right about now."

"What? You mean bean freak here helped you out?"

"Yes, and now he works for me."

"It is the truthfulness!" Fawful agreed, "The sundae of his plan has been mixed in with Crakletta's sundae of world domination so we can give the pathetic bug that is the Beanbean Kingdom the brain freeze of revenge!"

"Hmph... Fine," Bowser reluctantly growled as he let go of Fawful, dropping him to the floor, "But if he tries anything funny, he's gonna be a fried bean before he knows it!"

Fawful, mumbling something about mustard and fink-rats, retreated away from Bowser and back into the depths of the base.

"Hmm... Now that we're back together, let's get down to business, shall we?" Eggman began, "I've noticed that all the residents of this kingdom are, well, beans. Luckily for me, I happen to have a little something called the Mean Bean-Steaming Machine that can turn that entire kingdom into the next Robotropolis!"

"Good luck with that," Bowser moaned, "Someone's bound to realize what's going on when beans start disappearing and robots start showing up, no matter how fast you capture and roboticize them!"

"Ok, then, do you have any better ideas?"

"Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do! In Beanbean Castle is a powerful artifact called the Beanstar. This thing has the power to grant any with the holder of it wants. All you need to do is steal the Beanstar, or send a couple of roboticized beans over if you _really _want to use that Mean Bean-Thing of yours, and then just wish for a new Robo-land!"

"Robotropolis." Eggman corrected.

"Yeah, whatever."

"Well, that Fawful character was talking about a Beanstar thing when I first met him. He was saying that he could use it to bring back his master, or something like that."

"WOAH! Hold on a minute! If that weirdo brings back his master... On second thought, forget the Beanstar, you original plan is fine."

"What's wrong with him bringing back his master? We could always use another ally."

"The last time he 'brought back his master' was when he turned me into a woman! I am NOT letting that happen again!"

Bowser paused when he heard snickering behind him. He turned around and saw Scratch and Grounder laughing at him.

"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING AT?"

The two robots immediately stopped laughing and began pointing, trying to blame each other. Bowser replied to this by exhaling a huge bombardment of flames upon the duo. When he was done, they were covered in soot... and still pointing at each other.

"At any rate..." Eggman continued, "The power of that Beanstar sounds awfully enticing... Perhaps we can let Fawful steal it for us, and then we'll lock him away in a cell so he can't use it on us!"

"Now that's just plain low..." Bowser began, "... And I love it! But, uh... can't we just run him through that Bean-Thing?"

"I don't want to take the chance that he'd be just as crazy after he was turned into a robot. I've already got too many absent-minded robots as is..." Eggman answered, glaring at a charred Scratch and Grounder.

"Well, whatever floats your boat... We better get to work! We've got a Beanstar to steal!"

* * *

"MARIO!" 

"PEACH!"

Mario, as well as the rest of his quickly expanding group of friends, had just reached Princess Peach's Castle, and Peach quickly ran out to greet him. Mario, in return ran up to her, and they held each other in a warm embrace for about a minute (to which Sonic started to pretend that he was throwing up).

"I've been worried for you ever since you left to find Luigi," Peach sobbed, crying tears of joy, "And when Sonic told me about the explosion at Bowser's Castle... I didn't know what to do!"

"Don't worry, Peach. I'm back now. I'm safe," Mario replied, "Everything's going to be all right now."

"Oh..." Amy moaned, "Why doesn't Sonic ever say stuff so romantic like that?"

"Do you really want to know why?" Sonic mumbled under his breath.

"Ah! Master Mario!" Toadsworth called as he appeared in the castle's doorway, "It's good to see you safe and sound! I was starting to get a little worried that you were... Well, you know. Anyway, it's grand to see that you've returned! That Sonic fellow was starting to get on my nerves!"

"_Starting_?" Sonic questioned.

"Hey, don't look now," Vector began, "But I think we're starting to attract a crowd!"

Sure enough, right outside the castle gates a small group of toads was beginning to form. Near the front of the group were a couple of young toads who seemed to be arguing about something.

"I don't care what that hedgehog did on Yoshi's Island," one toad began, "Mario is still the best!"

"He is not!" the second toad argued, "He's an old has-been! Sonic's much cooler! He's way past cool!"

"Uh-huh..." the first toad replied, "I bet that Sonic couldn't beat Mario in a fight. Mario could just toast him with a few fireballs!"

"No way! Sonic's fast enough to dodge 'em! He'd spin-dash Mario all the way to Dry Dry Dessert!"

"Well, I'm still sticking with Mario!"

"And I'm sticking with Sonic, so there!"

Mario overheard the entire conversation and turned back to Toadsworth.

"Has it been like this ever since Sonic saved Yoshi's Island?" Mario asked.

"Yep... All the toads have been debating over it. For the most part, it's the young toads who seem to like that rebellious rodent, although some of them still think you're the best."

"I see..." Mario grumbled, glaring at Sonic.

"You're not jealous, are you?"

"Wha?... Oh, not at all!" Mario stuttered, quickly snapping out of it, "Just a little surprising, that's all!"

Suddenly, a loud shout came from over the distance.

"MAIL CALL!"

A koopa paratrooper wearing an aviation hood and carrying a messenger bag came flying up to Peach. Sonic, who had only knew koopas as being assistances of Bowser, started to go into an attack position.

"Whoa, hey, calm down Sonic!" Luigi yelled, "It's just Parakarry. He delivers the mail all around the Mushroom Kingdom."

"Princess Peach!" Parakarry greeted, "I've got a letter for you!"

Parakarry handed Peach a light green envelope.

"Another letter duly delivered. A postman's job is never done."

And with that, Parakarry flew away, off to deliver more mail.

"Gee, I wonder who it's from?" Tails mused.

Peach took a look at the envelope and noticed that it was sealed with the royal emblem of the Beanbean Kingdom.

"Why, it must be from Queen Bean herself!" Peach replied, "It must be something of great importance!"

"Are you sure it won't try to steal your voice again?" Luigi jokingly asked.

"That was not funny!" Toadsworth shouted, bonking Luigi over the head with his walking stick, "You should know better than to insult the princess!"

"Does that guy get on everyone's case, or am I just lucky?" Sonic mumbled.

"Nope. He's always like that..." Gadd answered.

Peach, meanwhile, had opened the letter and began to read it. It was pretty obvious by her facial expression that the letter wasn't good.

"'Dear Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom,'" Peach read aloud, "'We had found and captured Dr. Robotnik like you had requested, but he, as well as Fawful, another captive, have escaped custody and have not been located since. I have sent out my son, Prince Peasley, and a small army of beans to search for him, but they have uncovered nothing. I am requesting that you send us some aid in order to help us in our search for this menace. Sincerely, Queen Bean of the Beanbean Kingdom."

"Aw, man..." Charmy moaned, "You mean we had Eggman behind bars and he escaped? That stinks!"

"Heh, well, Eggman can run, but he can't hide!" Sonic began, "Don't worry, Princess! I'll get him back where he belongs!"

Sonic turned and began to run off, but Mario quickly called to him.

"Sonic, wait a second!"

"Sigh... What is it? I hate waiting!"

"Look, Sonic, you can't just go running off on your own..."

"Why not? I've done this hundreds of times before! Beating Eggman this time won't be any different than the last!"

"Last time, Eggman wasn't in alliance with Bowser."

"Yeah, so? I can handle it. Besides, Bowser's probably still lost after that Emerald Star explosion!"

"Don't be so sure..." Espio mumbled, "I can sense that our foes have indeed been reunited."

"Sonic, you've never fought Bowser before," Mario continued, "I have. Likewise, I've never faced off with Eggman like you have done 'hundreds of times.'"

"So, what are you saying?"

Mario paused for a second before holding out his hand.

"If our enemies have joined forces, so must we. If we stand together, we stand a chance."

Sonic thought for a moment and looked around at everyone watching. Luigi and Tails, Peach and Amy, E. Gadd, Knuckles and the Chaotix, all the toads... All of them were waiting to see what would happen. After a minute or so, Sonic reached out, hesitating only slightly, and shook Mario's hand.

"Fine. From now on, we're partners."

As two heroes shook hands, it was now clear that the two worlds had truly joined together.

"Bowser and Eggman had better watch out..." Mario began, "Because they've messed with the wrong heroes... _**Mario and Sonic**_!"


	40. Wario's Good Deed

The day after the battle of the thieves, Bobbery cast out of Keelhaul Key at around noon and began sailing towards Rougeport. Despite the usual ramblings of Flavio, Wario's never-ending whining, and the constant bickering below deck as Rouge and Ms. Mowz continued to yell at each other, even though there was a wall between them, the day was rather uneventful. Soon, night fell, and everyone went to bed, save Pa-Patch, who stayed up in the crows nest to keep a watch out, but even he fell asleep rather quickly.

Below deck, everyone was sound asleep in their rooms. With the unannounced addition of four new members of the crew, accommodating everyone was a tedious task, especially when Flavio objected to sharing his room with anyone, but eventually everyone was settled in. Unfortunately for Wario, he was stuck sharing a room with none other than Cream. After a while of complaining, he finally gave in, hung up a hammock on the opposite end of the room Cream's bed was on, clumsily climbed into it, and fell asleep. However, it wasn't a peaceful sleep for Wario. He began to suffer from an odd nightmare.

In his dream, Wario was standing in front of an altar in the dead of night. The center of the alter held a giant emerald, which Wario quickly recognized.

"Hey! That's that Master Emerald thing that red furball kept whining about! But what's it doing here?... And, HELLO! Looks like the gang's all here!"

Wario was right, surrounding the Master Emerald were the seven Chaos Emeralds! He was about to run up and grab all eight of the emeralds, but he stopped when he saw something interesting. Another person came sneaking out from the shadows, and he bore a striking resemblance to Wario!

"Hey! You!" Wario shouted, "Yeah, I'm talkin' to you, bub! Who are you? Don't ignore me!"

The man didn't reply. Instead, he quietly walked up to the altar and looked at the eight emeralds.

"Alright, then..." Wario's 'alter-ego' began, "He wants the seven Chaos Emeralds, huh? He didn't say anything about the Master Emerald... Heh, who says I can't take it anyway?"

He was about to grab the emeralds when he felt something touch his foot. Looking down, he was it was a small group of chao that had conjugated around him.

"What the?... Get away from me, you stupid chao!"

"CHAO! CHAO! CHAO!" All the chao screamed.

"Shut up! Someone's gonna hear you! SHUT UP!"

"CHAO! CHAO! CHAO!"

Growing more impatient by the second, he gave all the chao a sharp, roundhouse kick, sending them sprawling at the foot of the alter, unconscious.

"Well, that got 'em quiet. Now, back to these emeralds..."

All of a sudden, the Wario look-a-like heard a gargling sound. Turning around, he saw that the pools of water that surrounded the alter were rippling violently, almost as if the water itself was alive!

"So, this was the guardian he was talking about..." he mumbled, getting into a fighting stance, "Well then, bring it on, Chaos! I'm not afraid of you!"

The water thrashed around even more viciously. Suddenly, all the water came together and formed into a monster! He was almost entirely water, save for his eyes and a brain. Without any further warning, the monster lunged forward; ready to annihilate the man who had violated his alter and harmed his beloved chao. The thief, meanwhile, was ready to defend his position to the death.

"Hey, all right! A fight sequence!" the real Wario shouted, "I gotta have more dreams like this!"

However, right before the two opponents clashed, there was a bright light, and the scene changed to a promontory overlooking an ocean.

"Aw, man..." Wario moaned, "I wanted to see myself beat the crud outta waterboy..."

A shadowy figure was standing at the edge of the cliff, looking out over the ocean. Upon closer inspection, Wario discovered that, much like how the thief in his previous vision looked much like himself, this figure looked a lot like Bowser! 'Bowser' slowly turned around and watched as Wario's 'alter-ego' began to limp towards him. It seemed like his battle with the water monster didn't end well, as he was battered and bruised, and he left bloody footprints in the grass as he stumbled forward. However, he somehow managed to get the job done, for he was holding all seven Chaos Emeralds as he went. Eventually, he reached 'Bowser' and held out the emeralds.

"Here..." he sputtered, tossing the Chaos Emeralds onto the ground at 'Bowser's' feet, "I nearly died trying to get these cursed gems... That water demon, Chaos... He's stronger than I thought... You better keep your side of the bargain."

"Oh, don't worry. I will..." 'Bowser' replied, picking up one of the emeralds, "I will not only teach you how to do Chaos Control, but you're descendants will have the power as well. It's a shame, however, that you will never see these emeralds again..."

"Wait a second... What are you talking about?" 'Wario' stuttered, slowly backing away, "You're not gonna kill me, are ya?"

"No, no... You did what I asked, so I will spare your life. Instead..." 'Bowser' threw the Chaos Emerald into the air, "You will now know the true power of chaos! CHAOS CONTROL!"

The emerald began to glow brightly, and the earth began to tremble. 'Wario' tried to run away, but he was petrified with fear. Suddenly, electricity shot out of the emerald and struck 'Wario'! The current pulsed though his body, causing him to go into spastic convolutions. The power was so great that, for a few moments, his skeleton was visible!

"I now banish you to a place far away from this planet!" 'Bowser' roared, "Only when the legend becomes true will even your descendents ever set foot again on Mobius! Now, begone!"

Upon saying this, 'Wario' was engulfed in a bright light. Meanwhile, while all of this was going on, the real Wario was watching in astonishment, as everything was beginning to piece together for him.

"So, it's because of my ancestor..." Wario began, "... That's why I know how to use Chaos Control!"

As soon as Wario came upon this revelation, one of the rays of electricity coming from the Chaos Emerald lashed out and struck him! Right as Wario thought _he_ was a goner, he suddenly woke up from his dream.

That's not to say he was welcomed back to the realm of consciousness very well. He woke up in such a frantic state, he caused his hammock to start spinning around wildly before it dump him onto the floor head first!

"Ok..." Wario moaned, "That's the last time I eat anything that Flavio freak cooks right before I go to bed!"

Slowly getting back on his feet, Wario decided he needed to go for a little walk to let the excitement from his dream die down a little. He went up on deck and leaned over the side of the ship, just looking out at the night sea. When he heard footsteps behind him, he turned around and saw Cream and Cheese standing near the door leading below deck.

"What are you doing up here?" Wario demanded, "Go away! I need a little 'Wario Time'."

"Well, you made such a stir when you woke up," Cream explained, "I wanted to see if you were alright."

"Chao, chao!" Cheese agreed.

"Yeah, yeah... I'm fine, now go away."

Cream paused for a moment before talking again.

"Why are you so mean, Mr. Wario?"

Wario just glared at her.

"Excuse me?"

"You always seem to be in a cranky mood around everyone, like Mr. Bobbery, Mr. Flavio, and even Ms. Rouge. Why is that?"

"Well, what do they ever do for _me_? Why should I give a flip about others when I never get anything for it? I mean, that Mario loser risks his butt to save that dumb princess almost daily and all he ever gets is a cake! A freakin' cake!... Oh, and a kiss once in a while, but who cares? Where's the cash reward? The gold! The riches! The money! Why should I help out those idiots if I don't get anything in return?"

"There's more to life than money, Mr. Wario."

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

"Well... Isn't it nice to help someone out, even when you know they don't have anything to give you as thanks?"

"For cryin' out loud... I'm getting taught by a six-year-old... You know what, just go away before your pathetic little creampuff answers, pun _not_ intended, make me puke."

"But Mr..."

"GO AWAY!"

Cream stood silent for a minute or so staring at Wario before turning and walking away, quietly sobbing to herself, while Cheese followed.

"Heh, that got rid of 'em." Wario grunted to himself as he went back to looking out at the ocean, "Why does she keep bugging me about that stuff, anyway? Who does she think she is, a missionary?... Though, maybe she _might_ have a point... Oh, snap outta it, Wario! Don't let what some kid rambles about get to you! Money is what matters! Nothing else!"

Wario shook his head and went silent. Even if Cream was right about what she said, he sure as heck wasn't going to admit it!

* * *

While Wario was contemplating what Cream said, another ship was quickly approaching them. Moving silently through the inky black water, the ship was almost completely invisible in the dead of night. Commandeering this vessel was none other than Lord Crump, second-in-command of the X-Nauts. As soon as Flavio's merchant ship came into view, Crump took out a spyglass to get a closer look.

"Hmm..." Lord Crump thought aloud, "Looks like no one's awake. Get the cannon ready! We're gonna blow 'em outta the water! Buh! Buh huh! Buh huh huh!"

The X-Nauts immediately obeyed. They loaded up a cannon and began to aim it at the ship.

"Aim at the hull of the ship," Crump reminded, "If they're all sleeping below deck, we'll take out the entire crew in one shot! If not, the ship will sink before they can even wake up!"

The cannon was promptly tilted so it was sticking straight ahead, right into the side of the ship. However, right before it fired, Crump noticed someone moving around on deck.

"Hold your fire! I see someone!"

Looking more intently though the spyglass, he noticed the person in question was a very young rabbit. She seemed to have a little pet that was flying around near her, and she was talking to it. Obviously, this was Cream and Cheese, but Crump didn't know that yet.

"Oh, Cheese..." Cream lamented, wiping away a tear and laying her head on the side rail of the ship, "Why is Mr. Wario so mean? I wish there was some way to cheer him up."

"Chao, chao..." Cheese replied.

"I just hope he someday realizes that material things aren't that important. That having friends is a greater gift. Sigh... I don't know what to do..."

Cheese flew up to Cream and gave her a big hug. Or, at least, as big of a hug as a tiny chao could give.

"Aw, thanks, Cheese. At least I still have you."

Crump was watching all of this (but he couldn't hear a thing) through his spyglass. Suddenly, an evil grin appeared on his face as he thought of something really malicious.

"Men, I have a change of target," Lord Crump announced, "aim a little higher. I want the crew of that ship to know that we X-Nauts mean business."

The other X-Nauts followed his order and aimed a few degrees higher with the cannon... So that, when fired, the cannonball would hit Cream dead-on.

* * *

Wario had just finished convincing himself that what Cream said was nonsense when he heard her calling him.

"Mr. Wario?"

"What the..." Wario grumbled, "Can't that kid take a hint? What do I have to do, hang her over the side of the ship until she agrees to leave me alone?"

"Mr. Wario!"

"Grr... All right, all right! I'm coming! Don't get your ears in a knot!"

Wario stormed over to the other side of the ship, where Cream was standing.

"Ok, now what?" Wario demanded, "Are ya gonna preach to me some more?"

"I think I see something far out in the water," Cream replied, ignoring Wario's question.

"Huh? What, you mean out there?"

Cream nodded. Wario, still mumbling under his breath about how much he hated the little rabbit, looked out onto the water to see what Cream was looking at. After a minute or so of searching, he saw a faint silhouette of a ship. He didn't have nearly a second to think about what it was before he heard a loud blast.

"Woah! What the heck was that?" Wario shouted.

"I don't know, Mr. Wario!" Cream answered.

Looking up, Cream suddenly gasped in horror. A cannonball was flying through the air, and it was heading straight for Cream! She wanted to run away, but fear kept her frozen in place. Wario also saw the cannonball coming, and he too realized it was going to hit Cream.

"WAH! MOVE IT, KID!" Wario yelled, grabbing Cream by her ears and dragging her out of the way just before the cannonball landed. The ship shook violently as the projectile embedded itself into the deck, causing Wario and Cream to fall over. While Wario was slowly getting up, Cream jumped to her feet and quickly realized what he had just done.

"Mr. Wario..." Cream began, "You saved me! See? There's good in your heart, I knew it!"

"WHAT? I mean... Uh..." Wario stuttered, "Don't get too over ecstatic, kid. That was an once-in-a-lifetime thing! Next time, I'll just stand there and let you get clobbered! So there!"

The conversation didn't go on any further before Admiral Bobber, Flavio, and a bunch of sailor toads, all in their pajamas, came crowding up on deck to see what the commotion was all about.

"IEEE!" Flavio shrieked, "WHAT IS HAPPENING TO MY SHIP?"

Pulling out a spyglass, Bobbery looked towards the direction the blast came from. It didn't take long before he dropped the spyglass in shock and immediately begin to address the crew on board.

"Everyone! Get into defensive positions!" Bobbery called out, "We are under attack!"


	41. Shadow of a Chance

Beanbean Castle Town was in a state of pure excitement as heroes both old and new walked through their streets to reach the castle. Mario, Sonic, Luigi, Tails, Knuckles, Peach, Amy, Team Chaotix, and Professor Elvin Gadd were all greeted with ecstatic cheers and confetti from the bean citizens. However, inside the castle, things were much more serious. The large group was personally introduced to Queen Bean, and she quickly began to explain the situation.

"My letter told you about how Dr. Robotnik and Fawful both escaped from custody, and how my son, Prince Peasley as gone with a small army to search for them," Queen Bean stated, "However, that was a week ago. Since then, the situation has gotten much more dire."

As to emphasize the point, Queen Bean leaped into the air and came back down with a loud crash. The resulting shock wave didn't bother Mario, Luigi, or Peach, as they were used to talking to Queen Bean. Everyone else, on the other hand, nearly lost their balance, and poor Tails even fell right on his namesake!

"It has been three days since I last heard from my son, and no one knows what happened to him. I fear the worst. The only hope we have is that he was last seen heading for Joke's End before he disappeared, so that might mean that's where Robotnik and Fawful are."

"Oh boy... Fawful..." Mario moaned.

"Huh? What's wrong with him?" Sonic asked.

"Imagine the craziest person you ever met after he drank too much caffeine," Luigi explained, "And that still wouldn't come close to how Fawful acts. He speaks in broken English, and just sputters random analogies that make no sense. My personal favorite: 'Mustard of your doom!'"

"Sounds like Charmy on a sugar rush," Vector commented.

"Hmm..." Peach mused, "If Fawful is helping Dr. Robotnik try to take over the world, I wonder if he will---"

Peach was interrupted by a loud explosion coming from one of the nearby chambers. No one even got a chance to ask what it was before a female bean in a yellow robe stumbled into the room, clearly wounded.

"Lady Lima!" Queen Bean bellowed, "What happened?"

"Your... Majesty..." Lady Lima sputtered, "The Beanstar... it's... being..."

Lady Lima collapsed from exhaustion before she could finish her sentence. E. Gadd quickly ran over and checked up on her.

"She'll be ok," Gadd confirmed, "She only passed out. I'll wait here with her. Mario! Sonic! Quick! Find out what happened to the Beanstar!"

The duo promptly complied. They ran into the next room, with the rest of the group following closely behind, and were greeted with a horrifying sight. The stained glass window in the far end of the room was shattered, and in the center of the room a robot was trying to make off with the Beanstar! Right as Sonic was about to spin-dash the robot into spare parts, it turned around to reveal its identity, which caused Queen Bean to scream.

"NO! IT CAN'T BE! **PRINCE PEASLEY**?"

Before anyone could react, another familiar bean came flying into the room through the broken window: Fawful.

"Ya ha ha ha! It is the bug that is Queen Bean _and_ the heroes whom I hate all together in one room that is their demise!"

"WHAT... DID YOU DO... TO MY SON?" Queen Bean demanded.

"The fink-rat of patheticness has been through the process that is roboticizcation! He is now but a sprinkle on the sundae that will give you the brain freeze of revenge! The sundae of your DOOM!"

"He's making me hungry..." Charmy groaned.

"Heh, no sweat," Sonic cockily said, "I can take care of Mr. Engrish here."

Sonic leaped into the air, curled up into a ball, and attempted to do a homing attack into Fawful's face. However, Fawful was one step ahead of Sonic, and shot a green, electric projectile from his crazy headgear at him, hitting him square on. Sonic got a nasty shock and got knocked back into a wall.

"IEEE! SONIKKU!" Amy squealed.

"Ha! Your pathetic taunt opened the door of your stupidity leading to the success that was mine!" Fawful insulted, "And now is your finishing time!"

Fawful launched another shot at Sonic, but Mario quickly stepped in the way. Pulling out his hammer, Mario batted the electro-ball towards Luigi, who used his own hammer to slam the projectile into the ground. This got Fawful's attention.

"WHAT?" Fawful yelled, looking at the Mario Bros., "You dare stand in the way of me, the Mario Brothers, whom I hate? Bah! But at you I laugh for you shall suffer your fate at a hand that is not mine!"

Fawful snapped his fingers, and suddenly a small army of robotic beans came in through the broken window. They began to charge in on the heroes, and Mario quickly began to shout out orders.

"Tails! Get Peach, Amy, and Queen Bean out of here and someplace safe!"

"Ok!" Tails agreed as he led the females out of the room.

"Knuckles! You and the Chaotix can take care of these beans, right?"

"No problem," Knuckles replied.

"Good. I can take care of Fawful, and..."

"What about me?..." Sonic muttered, slowly getting back onto his feet, "Can't let me stay outta the action, now can ya? I'll help you take down Fawful. I have a score to settle with him."

"I guess that leaves me to... gulp... fight Robo-Peasley" Luigi mumbled.

"Alright!" Mario shouted, "Let's-a go!"

Mario and Sonic charged towards Fawful, but he sent the roboticized beans before him, preventing the duo from reaching him. Mario tried to hit one over the head with his hammer, but it didn't even leave a dent.

"What the?..." Mario sputtered, "My hammer didn't do anything!"

"HA HA HA!" Fawful laughed, "Their armor is the impenetrateable force field that is only attempted to be broken by the fool that is you!"

"Translation:" Sonic began, "Your hammer isn't strong enough to beat through their metal shell! Leave it to me, Knux, and the Chaotix. We've been fighting these guys for years; we can beat through their shell like nothing to it!"

As Sonic started to run around the room, Knuckles and the Chaotix quickly entered the fray and began to bash robot heads in. Every time they destroyed a robot, freeing the Beanbean solder inside, Sonic would rush in and get the bean out of the brawl before it could get hurt. However, Fawful just kept sending in even more of them, and the Chaotix were starting to get tired.

"Oh, for cryin' out loud..." Vector moaned, "How many beans did ol' Eggman roboticize, anyhow?"

"Beats me," Knuckles retorted, "But if we don't do something fast, we're gonna be overpowered!"

* * *

Outside in the main hall of the castle, Tails, Peach, Amy, and Queen Bean were trying to find a suitable hiding place until the battle was over.

"Queen Bean, is there any place you have for protection when there is an emergency?" Tails asked, "You know, like a bomb shelter?"

"Normally, we never had to worry about such things," Queen Bean replied, "So we never built one!"

"Oh, great! _Now_ what are we gonna do?" Amy cried, "What if they can't hold those robots off and they come and kidnap us!"

Peach was about to reply when she heard the front doors open and someone walk in.

"Sorry I'm late," a came voice, apparently from the person entering, "Where's Mario?"

The group turned around and saw who had entered. Although Tails, Amy, and Queen Bean didn't recognize the guest, Peach quickly did.

"Wait, that can't be..." Peach sputtered, "... Is that really you?"

* * *

Meanwhile, back in the melee, Luigi was busy trying to take down Robo-Peasley. It was really hard, though, since he kept flying away on his little cushion, which, thanks to the Mean Bean-Steaming Machine, now looked more like a little flying saucer. Every time Luigi would try to swing his hammer or jump on him, Peasley would simply move out of the way and retaliate with a sword strike, constantly knocking Luigi around the room. During all of this, Mario, who now knew that his hammer was useless, could only throw the occasional fireball, which usually didn't do much of anything, except leave scorch marks everywhere.

"Momma-mia... What are we going to do?" Mario asked himself, "We got to work as a team and blast these guys!"

Upon hearing the words 'Team' and 'Blast', something clicked in Espio's head.

"Team Blast... That's it!" Espio yelled, "Vector, we have to use our Team Blast!"

"Oh boy!" Charmy exclaimed, "Team Blast! Team Blast! Team Blast!"

"Heh... Time for another Chaotix Recital, huh?" Vector asked rhetorically, "Let's give 'em a music lesson they won't forget!"

"Um... Guys?" Mario interrupted, "I didn't really mean anything by saying..."

Mario didn't get a chance to finish his sentence before Team Chaotix sprung into action. Vector pulled out a stand-up microphone from seemingly nowhere, while Espio pulled out a guitar and Charmy pulled out a marching band drum, both of them also from seemingly nowhere. Charmy began banging on his drum, Espio proceeded to rift out a tune on his guitar, and Vector started signing... _very_ badly. The bombardment of noise was so loud, all the remaining windows in the room shattered... along with all the robots! After the deafening blast, all that remained of the robots were random parts scattered all around, with the unconscious beans, including Prince Peasley, lying on the floor.

"Woah," Luigi uttered, "That was... Interesting."

"Hey, Luigi!" Sonic hollered, "Don't just stand there! Grab the Beanstar!"

Luigi turned and saw that Peasley, who was holding the Beanstar when he was a robot, had carelessly dropped it a few feet away. Luigi attempted to dive for it, but Fawful quickly turned his headgear on and sucked the Beanstar into it, causing Luigi to simply fall flat on his face!

"You may have eaten the sprinkles of our evilness," Fawful began, "But the cherry that is the Beanstar is still ours for the sundae of destruction!"

"Wanna bet, Faw-freak?" Sonic taunted, "Come on, Mario, let's show this guy a thing or two!"

The two heroes ran up to Fawful, but before they could attack, Fawful began to speak again.

"Do not think you can steal my cherry, fink-rats! I have but one more sprinkle that is big enough to crush the pathetic bugs that are you!"

With a snap of his fingers, a bright light flashed in front of Fawful. When the light show ended, an all too familiar black hedgehog was standing before Mario and Sonic.

"Woah! Shadow? What are you doing here?" Sonic asked in amazement.

"Hmph," the black hedgehog snorted, "the Faker seems to have paired up with a pathetic human. The same one who's boat I smashed..."

The mentioning of the boat got Mario pretty mad.

"So, that was you, huh?" Mario fumed, "Step aside, Sonic, I need to take this guy down one-on-one."

"Ha ha ha! I'd love to see you try," Fawful mocked, "but now is my departing time! For I now have the cherry on the sundae of our revenge! Fare-_wrong_, fink-rat!"

Fawful flew out the window with the Beanstar, leaving Shadow behind to take care of Mario.

"Aw man, he got away!" Sonic groaned.

"Yep," Mario agreed, pulling out his hammer, "but he left my 'friend' behind. Ok, Shadow, this is payback for what you did when we first met!"

Mario leaped into the air and attempted to hit Shadow with a downward hammer strike, but just as quickly as he appeared, Shadow disappeared with a blinding flash, leaving Mario nothing to strike but thin air.

"Huh? Where'd he go?"

Suddenly, Shadow appeared behind Mario. Mario didn't get a chance to react before Shadow did an upwards kick that sent Mario flying into the ceiling! By the time he was able to peel himself off the ceiling, Shadow disappeared again and reappeared in the air next to Mario, giving him a downwards kick to send him back to the ground! As Mario slowly got back on his feet, he didn't show any signs of giving up.

"Hmm..." Mario pondered, "This is going to be a little challenging... But I can't let him win!"

Tossing his hammer aside, seeing that it was too clumsy to use in the battle, Mario pulled his hand back and began to prepare a fireball. However, Shadow seemed to be getting ready to throw something of his own. Both of them threw their projectiles at the same time. Shadow was able to quickly dodge the oncoming fireball, but Mario couldn't dodge what Shadow threw: A missile! The resulting explosion sent Mario careening into the far wall. He tried to get back up, but Shadow wasn't going to allow it, as he started to float slightly in the air.

"Hmph," Shadow sneered, "playtime is over... CHAOS SPEAR!"

Suddenly, a giant lightning bolt came down and struck Mario! The electrocution was enough to keep Mario down for good. His vision started to get burry, but he could still see the blurry form of Shadow approaching him, ready to finish the job. He could also hear everyone in the background gasping in shock, afraid of what Shadow was about to do. As soon as Shadow reached Mario's slumped body, Mario winced, ready to face the finishing blow, when he heard someone start yelling.

"HEY! WHY DON'T YOU PICK ON SOMEBODY YOUR OWN SIZE?"

Suddenly, gunshots went off. Mario thought that was it, but he was surprised to find that he was still alive. Instead, he saw that someone had shot Shadow, and now _he_ was lying on the floor! At this point, Mario's vision started to go dark, but before he blacked out, he saw the blurry form of who had shot Shadow... and it was someone Mario knew.

"G... G... Ge... no?..."


	42. Naval Battle

Lord Crump was enraged that his cover was blown, but he didn't show it to the rest of the crew.

"So, it seems like they know of our presence now, hmm?" Crump began, "Well, we'll just have to bring the battle to them, then! Buh! Buh huh! Buh huh huh! Hey, whoever's driving this thing! Get us over there NOW!"

With incredible, stealth-like speed, his vessel made its way towards Flavio's ship. All the while, Crump was grinning to himself.

"What are you going to do now, Flavio? You don't have that cursed plumber to save you now..."

* * *

Meanwhile, on the other ship, Wario, Bobbery, and a few of the toads were preparing for battle, while Flavio just started screaming like a girl.

"Oh, for the love of... Somebody shut him up before my eardrum ruptures," Wario groaned.

Bobbery complied by giving Flavio a not-so-gentle shove back below deck. His screams still could be heard, but at least they were tolerable now.

"What's going to happen to us, Mr. Bobbery?" Cream asked, "Are they going to capture us?"

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Bobbery answered, lighting the fuse on the top of his head.

The battleship got even closer to the sailors, and that's when Bobbery recognized the enemies on board.

"Oh no... Not these guys again..." Bobbery moaned.

"Who are they, Mr. Bobbery?"

"The X-Nauts. They're in a secret society that Mario and I fought a while ago. They were searching for the Crystal Stars so they could awaken a thousand year old demon living underneath Rougeport. Fortunately, we were able to stop them, but it looks like they've returned! Could they be after Flavio's heirloom?"

Bobbery paused for a minute as he saw X-Nauts trying to get on board the ship! He immediately ran towards them right as his fuse just about went out. The resulting explosion knocked the first wave of attackers out of commission!

"Well, whatever they want, they ain't gettin' it!" Wario shouted, "All these loser X-Nauts are gonna have Xes for eyes when I'm through with them!"

* * *

Below deck, Ms. Mowz and Rouge were both equally confused by the commotion that was going on above. Since they were still locked up, they couldn't get out to find out.

"What on Mobius is going on up there?" Rouge pondered to herself, "I can't see a thing!"

She tried to look out the porthole window (with, obviously, was securely locked) to catch a glimpse, but, unfortunately, the X-Nauts' boat was on the other side of the ship, so all she saw was open waters, which were starting to get brighter, as the sun was starting to come up.

"Dang, can't even see it out there... Maybe that rat knows what's going on... Hey! Ms. Mowz!"

No reply.

"Huh? Normally, she'd be thrilled to yell at me some more... Ms. Mowz! Are you there?"

Still no reply.

"Darn it! Why isn't she replying?"

As it turned out, Ms. Mowz was much too busy to answer to her new-found rival. She was using her tail to pick-lock the door to her room. With a little work, she got it to open, much to her delight.

"As much as I hate to mess up my tail, I think this was worth it," Ms. Mowz commented to herself, "Once I make it out of all of this, I think I deserve a week-long stay at the Poshley Heights Spa."

Rouge heard her rival open her door and leave the area.

"What? She escaped? How did she do that? Oh great, now I _have_ to show up to that, if I want to keep my title of the world's greatest thief!"

Almost as if on cue, the sound of cannon fire came from above. Suddenly, there was a loud explosion, and Rouge had to quickly dodge out of the way of a falling cannonball! When the dust settled, she noticed that the projectile had left a gaping hole in the ceiling of the room, giving her a way out!

"Well, that was easy... No one can beat the world famous Rouge the Bat!"

Rouge spread her wings and flew up onto the deck, where she was quickly greeted by the sight of an intense battle. Although the toads were quickly falling before the X-Naut soldiers, Wario and Bobbery alone were more than making up for it. Unfortunately, it still appeared that they were fighting a losing battle. While Rouge was staring at this in shock, Ms. Mowz climbed on deck in a more conventional manner.

"Huh? How did you get up here before me?" Ms. Mowz demanded, "Last time I checked, you were busy yelling at me while _I_ was making my grand escape!"

"Well, I was just giving you a head start," Rouge lied, "And look, I still got up here before you. I guess that means _I'm _the better thief!"

Then, Ms. Mowz noticed the giant hole in the floor next to Rouge, and she quickly figured out what happened.

"Hey! No fair! You cheated! I'm _still_ the better thief!"

Rouge didn't get a chance to retaliate before someone yelled, "INCOMING!" Knowing that, during a battle, it's better to act first and ask questions later, the two thieves leaped out of the way just as three dazed X-Nauts flew by. Looking in the direction they came from, they saw Wario standing there, scratching his head. Apparently, he had _thrown_ all three of the X-Nauts!

"What the?... How'd you two losers get out? Eh, who cares! Help us out here, would ya?"

Ms. Mowz and Rouge looked at each other, shrugged, and began to slap and/or kick the X-Nauts senseless. Soon, it was the X-Nauts who were fighting a losing battle! During the melee, Wario noticed that Cream and Cheese were just sitting in the middle of the chaos, cowering in fear.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Wario hollered, "Are ya just gonna sit there, or are ya gonna help us knock these idiots into next Wednesday?"

"But Mr. Wario..." Cream protested, "I don't like fighting. It's wrong and it makes me sad..."

"Oh, for crying out loud... Why am I always stuck with wimpy pacifists?"

While he was complaining, Wario saw Cheese hovering next to Cream, and he suddenly got an idea.

"Hey, kid, you want some motivation to fight? How about this?"

Wario quickly grabbed Cheese and, before Cream could react, threw him at a small group of approaching X-Nauts!

"IEEE! CHEESE!" Cream shrieked.

"Well, what do you know..." one the X-Nauts began, picking up a terrified Cheese, "Look at this cute little bugger, guys! I say we throw him overboad!"

"NO! NOT CHEESE!" Cream pleaded, but the X-Nauts didn't hear her or, more likely, ignored her as they walked towards the side of the ship.

"So, you want to save your pet?" Wario asked, "Then, I suggest you start fighting and get him back! Ha! How's that for motivation?"

Cream buried her face in her hands and began crying uncontrollably, unsure of what to do. She hated fighting, but if she didn't fight, she'd lose her best friend! When she heard, over the entire ruckus of the battle, poor little Cheese squealing as he was about to be tossed overboard, she knew what she had to do. Holding back her tears as best she could, she lifted her head and called out to him.

"CHEESE..." Cream shouted, "... ATTACK!"

Upon Cream saying these words, Cheese displayed some sort of hidden power as he immediately pulled himself from the X-Naut's grasp. Once free, the little chao dive-bombed towards the group and, with a devastating blast, knocked all of _them _overboard! He then proceed to dive-bomb like a little blue missile of doom at various other X-Nauts, knocking all of them for a serious loop! Eventually, he flew back to Cream and gave her a cute, innocent hug.

"WHOA! WHAT THE..." Wario gargled, "SINCE WHEN COULD HE DO _THAT_? YOU NEVER TOLD---"

Wario stopped when he noticed that Cream was crying again.

"Oh, great... _Now_ what's wrong?"

"I can't believe I just did that..." Cream sobbed, "I just hurt those people..."

"Uh... Hello? They're the bad guys! Who cares what happens to them!"

This didn't reassure Cream at all, and she resumed crying. Bobbery noticed this, and he took a break from bombing X-Nauts to comfort her.

"Are you alright? Do you want to hide below deck until it's over?"

"Sniff... Thank you, Mr. Bobbery."

Bobbery began to escort Cream away from the fighting, but they were quickly stopped. Because Bobbery had let his guard down to help Cream, the X-Nauts took the opportunity to surround the two, trapping them. To make matters worse, a couple of X-Nauts also pushed Ms. Mowz and Rouge into the center of the circle. From the safety of the other ship, Crump pulled out a megaphone and began to taunt them.

"Ha ha ha! Behold! I am Lord Crump!" he called though his megaphone, "Now, if you value your lives, I'd suggest you hand over the Emerald Star at once! Buh! Buh huh! Buh huh huh!"

"Emerald Star?" Bobbery asked.

"Don't play dumb with me! You know what I'm talking about! Flavio's heirloom!"

While he was yelling, Crump suddenly noticed something.

"Hey, wait a second... Where's Wario?"

"I'm up here, ya yutz!"

Everyone looked upwards and saw Wario standing in the crow's nest of Flavio's ship! He was standing in a triumphant manner above everyone else, and in his outstretched hand was the moldy old garlic he was yelling to Cream about when they were out of food.

"Oh, no, I'm so scared..." Crump mumbled sarcastically, "What are you going to do, kill us with your bad breath?"

Wario didn't bother with a comeback. Instead, he promptly ate the whole garlic in one bite. Almost instantly, something began happening to him. Steam began pouring out of his ears and nostrils, and he began flashing various colors. In a blinding flash, Wario changed completely. He was now wearing a purple spandex suit with a cape flowing in the wind.

"What... The heck... Is THAT?" Rouge shouted.

"Faster than a speeding doughnut..." Wario began, "More powerful than cardboard... It is I... WARIOMAN!"

"Warioman?..." Crump repeated in utter confusion, "Give me a break... X-Nauts, get him."

"Wha ha ha! Fear me, losers!"

Wario... Erm... Wario_man_ leaped from the crow's nest in a flying position... and dropped like a rock. However, his fall wasn't entirely in vain. When he landed, he took himself, as well as five X-Nauts, below deck with a loud 'Bang!' that left a Wario-shaped hole in the floor. After a few moments, a normal looking Wario poked his head out of the hole, but he was completely dazed and confused.

"Mr. Wario! Are you ok?" Cream asked.

"Ugh... All your base are belong to us..." Wario replied groggily.

Suddenly there was a loud, "Ah ha!" and an X-Naut that Warioman took down came walking up, and he was dragging a panicked Flavio, who was holding his heirloom.

"NO!" Flavio protested, "YOU CAN NOT TAKE THE HEIRLOOM OF THE HOUSE OF FLAVIO!"

"Eh, shut up, dude," the X-Naut grunted. He pulled the Emerald Star out of Flavio's fingers and, with a mighty throw, tossed it up to Lord Crump, who caught it in midair.

"Finally, we got the Emerald Star!" Crump exclaimed, "Now, since you guys didn't hand it over _willingly_, I guess we'll just have to blow up your ship anyway! Hey, you! Get the cannons ready! Oh, boy, I'm so darn evil!"

While the X-Nauts began to prepare the cannons, the crew on board Flavio's ship looked on hopelessly. However, Cream suddenly noticed that someone was missing!

"Um, Mr. Bobbery? Where's..."

"Shh..." Bobbery quieted, as he realized the same thing, and that Lord Crump didn't.

Meanwhile, Crump was watching gleefully as his soldiers began to light the fuses on the cannons. Feeling triumphant, he held the Emerald Star high in the air.

"Oh man! Grodus is _so_ gonna give me a raise after this!"

Crump had his eyes on the Emerald Star the entire time, and he watched as it, without warning, disappear out of thin air!

"Woah! What the... Where'd it go? Someone stole what _I_ rightfully stole first!"

Looking around, Lord Crump tried to find who stole his Emerald Star, all the while the fuses on the cannons were burning out. Eventually he found the culprit standing on the railing of the ship: Rouge!

"Hey! You stupid bat! Give that back right now!"

"No way!" Rouge replied, "This Emerald Star belongs to me... OPH!"

One of the X-Nauts, growing impatient, gave Rouge a shove, causing her to fall off the railing and back onto the other ship. Unfortunately for the X-Nauts, she took the Emerald Star with her!

"What? You idiot!" Crump hollered, "Now that thing's on the ship we're about to blow up! Get it back NOW!"

The X-Nauts still on the ship began to charge at Rouge. Thinking quickly, she tossed the star away right before she got tackled, and it landed right at the feet of Wario. Meanwhile, the cannon fuses were almost entirely out!

"Ugh! Get off me, you pervs!" Rouge demanded, trying to fight her way out, "Somebody do something, or we're all going to be blown out of the water!"

Wario, who returned the realm of the conscious, looked down at the Emerald Star. Suddenly, he remembered his dream, as well as what he did to escape Angel Island. Picking the star up, Wario began tossing it up and down in his one hand. Rouge immediately noticed this.

"Wait..." Rouge mumbled, "You're not going to---"

"Believe it lady!" Wario shouted back, tossing the Emerald Star high in the air, "CHAOS... CONTROL!"

A thousand things happened at once. A bright light glowed from the Emerald Star, the cannons fired, and two loud noises, one explosive and the other supernatural, sounded across the waters. When the dust settled, Lord Crump looked out at what remained. There was pieces of Flavio's ship scattered everywhere on the ocean, and no sign of survivors, or even bodies, for that matter.

"Looks like Wario pulled off his magic trick a little too late," Crump began, "Men, search for the Emerald Star in that wreckage. When we find it, our mission will be complete! Buh! Buh HUH! BUH HUH HUH!"


	43. Preparing for the Raid

_Mario..._

_Mario, wake up..._

_Please, Mario, wake up..._

_Here, Peach, let me try..._

_MARIO, WAKE UP OR I'LL HIT YOU OVER THE HEAD WITH MY HAMMER!_

Mario jolted straight up and quickly looked around. He was sitting on a bed in a guest room in Beanbean Castle. Beside him was Peach and Amy, the former in quite a bit of shock, and the latter holding her Piko Piko Hammer in an attacking position.

"See?" Amy declared, lowering her mallet, "That got him up fast!"

"Momma mia... Talk about your wake-up calls..." Mario mumbled before he suddenly remembered everything that had happened before he blacked out, "Wait a second! Is everyone alright? Where's Luigi and Sonic and---"

"They're all fine," Peach assured, "but I think we all have someone to thank."

The door to the room opened, and in walked a very familiar face. He looked like a wooden puppet wearing a magician's outfit (pointy hat, cape, etc.) and his one arm seemed to be some sort of weapon. Mario immediately recognized him and jumped out of bed to greet him.

"Geno! Long time no see!" Mario greeted, "Boy, you sure came in at just the right time!"

"Yep, you betcha, Mario!" Geno replied, "Sure glad I got here before that Shadow guy finished you off!"

Mario paused for a moment. This certainly was Geno, but he sounded... more like a child. And his certainly wasn't acting nearly as serious as he did the first time he met him. Then Mario remembered that Geno, in reality, was just an ordinary doll that was possessed by a star, causing it to come alive. Any star could possess him, causing him to have a different personality depending on the star. However, all the stars living in Star Haven were captured (and probably roboticized) by Eggman... All the stars, that is, except one...

"Twink?" Mario asked, raising an eyebrow, "Is that you?"

'Geno' looked down at the floor, almost as if in embarrassment, before answering.

"Well... Um... You see, Eldstar told me about a star that once came down to the Mushroom Kingdom and possessed a doll so he could help you fight Smithy... He's always been my role model ever since! But I don't know what happened to him after the attack on Star Haven... And then, after that incident in Bowser's Castle, where I couldn't do anything to save you from that explosion, I realized that I couldn't really be very helpful just as a tiny little star. So, I decided to take matters into my own hands..."

"Oh, Twink!" Peach called out, "You'll always be helpful to us, no matter what form you're in!"

"She's right, you know!" Mario agreed, putting his arm around 'Geno's' shoulder, "If we ever need someone to sneak into small places, we know who to turn to! And if not, we can always use the extra firepower!"

"Gee... You're right! Thanks, Mario!" Twink exclaimed, "I just have to make sure I don't 'de-possess' this thing at the wrong time, heh heh!"

At about this time, Tails had walked by the open door and noticed that Mario was awake inside.

"Oh, hey, Mario!" Tails called, "You're awake! Good... Could you come with me for a moment? Gadd and I want to show you some things."

"Okay-dokie!" Mario replied, "See ya, Geno... Um... Twink... Uh..."

"I'd rather stick with Twink," the doll answered, "Geno is kinda reserved for the original, I think."

With that, Mario left the room and followed Tails, wanting to see what Gadd had in store.

* * *

"That thing creeps me out."

"Luigi, relax, it's just a robot's head that has an organic exterior."

"Still, it looks like the decapitated head of an animal... A black, humanized animal."

When Mario and Tails entered the room that Professor Elvin Gadd was using as a temporary lab, they saw the professor and Luigi looking at something lying on the table. A closer inspection revealed it to be none other than Shadow's head!

"Whoa!" Mario yipped, "Did Twink really shoot his head---"

"Ah! Mario! You're back!" Gadd welcomed before noticing Mario's intent staring at the noggin on the table, "Oh... Don't worry. Twink didn't go 'rated M for Mature' on us here. As it turned out, that Shadow you were fighting before, as well as the one that most likely wrecked our boat, was nothing more than a robot! A mere metallic copy of the original! When Twink 'shut him down', I took the liberty of detaching his head so I could check the CPU for any good information on our adversaries."

"That's a relief." Mario said much more calmly than before, "So, did you find anything yet?"

"Not really..." Luigi mumbled, "The security is really tight... Eggman even puts firewalls inside his robots! Still, if anyone can get past them, it's Elvin Gadd!"

"Say, speaking of finding information, have you gone looking at the data we found in Omega's memory bank? Or that CD you burned?"

"We checked Omega's chip," Gadd answered for Luigi, "but, although it chronicled Omega's time with the real Shadow... Or, at least, the closest to real Shadow after Shadow's death fighting that Bio-thingy... It didn't really have information relevant to our current situation."

"Still, what did it say?"

"Well... After Sonic destroyed Metal Overlord, Shadow and Omega vowed to hunt down and destroy all of the Shadow androids, so that only the 'real' Shadow remained. However, Eggman managed to capture Shadow and Omega on one of their raids. He obviously shut down Omega and locked him away in his Mystic Ruins base, but it doesn't say anything about what happened to Shadow... As for Luigi's CD, I haven't even had a chance to look at it yet! Although, Luigi's been bugging me about it for a while..."

"I'm serious, Gadd!" Luigi interrupted, "That thing has really important information on it!"

"Like what?" Mario asked.

"Uh... I don't remember... That's why I burned the data onto it! So I wouldn't have to remember!"

E. Gadd rolled his eyes (although no one noticed it behind his thick glasses) while Mario suddenly remembered something else that happened before his fight with the Shadow android.

"Fawful said something about my hammer not being strong enough to harm Eggman's robots..." Mario mentioned, "What's up with that?"

Tails took the opportunity to explain.

"You see, Mario, your hammer is made out of wood. It's great for hammering goombas and koopas, but it isn't so good at damaging robotic coverings. Fortunately, Eggman's weaker, cannon-fodder robots, like the Egg Pawns, are relatively weak, so you could probably destroy those with your hammer, like Amy does."

"Oh, I see..." Mario replied, "I was wondering why Amy uses a hammer if it doesn't work."

"However," Tails continued, "Eggman doesn't want his more prized robots, that is, his roboticized victims, to be free, so he started using a stronger metal on them than with his normal robots... I think it's called 'Cypernik-metal' or something like that... Anyway, this new metal is super-strong. We've been fighting robots for so long that, with a little extra effort, we're able to still break through the metal anyway, but it certainly won't give in to a simple hammer blow."

"So, now what?" Mario asked, "Sure, this hammer is good enough to beat Eggman's normal robots, but it isn't going to be much help since he's gone robo-happy on the Beanbean citizens!"

"You'll just have to find less direct but more powerful ways of attacking them, I guess. However, I did find a solution that Luigi can use!"

Tails walked over to a nearby workbench and grabbed a hammer that was lying there. It looked like it was mostly made out of wood, but the handle and the flat ends of the head were made out of metal. He handed the new hammer to Luigi and began talking again.

"I noticed that Luigi has the ability to conjure up electric balls in his hand. Using this revelation, I created a special hammer for him. Luigi, try using Thunderpalm while holding the hammer."

Luigi obliged. He began forming an electric sphere in his hand while he was holding the hammer. Suddenly, the electric jumped from his hand into the metal handle, shot up into the head of the hammer, and began sparking off of the sides!

"You see? If Luigi strikes a roboticized victim while he's using Thunderpalm, the electricity jumps into the robot and short circuits it, causing it to explode and free the victim!"

"Hey! That's-a pretty cool!" Luigi complimented, "But... Uh... Couldn't I just use Thunderpalm normally?"

"Oh... Yeah..." Tails mumbled, beginning to blush in embarrassment at his tiny overlook, "Still, I think the hammer strike would at least add a little extra 'oomph!' to the attack!"

"Well, I personally think it's a brilliant invention!" E. Gadd exclaimed, "I'll say, you are a child prodigy!"

During all of this, Mario kept glancing out the door. Although, at one point, he saw Knuckles and the Chaotix walk by, chatting and catching up on old times, he never saw Sonic. Surely Sonic would make sure he was alright after that fight, wouldn't he?

"Tails?" Mario questioned, "Where's Sonic? I haven't seen him in the castle since I woke up."

"Oh, he always goes out exploring," Tails explained, "he's a wanderer like that, although I wish he'd stay in one place when something important is going on..."

* * *

Tails was right. Sonic was currently running all around the Beanbean Kingdom, checking out everything it had to offer. Eventually, his wander-lust led him to the peak of Hoohoo Mountain.

_Oh man!_ Sonic thought to himself, _this would make an **awesome** snowboarding course in the winter!_

While Sonic was enjoying the view, however, he noticed something a bit unusual. Off to the east, he could see dense smoke forming and rising into the sky. It didn't take Sonic long to figure out what he was looking at. To him, smoke like that was virtually Eggman's signature!

"Ah ha!" Sonic shouted to no one in particular, "So THAT'S where Eggman's been hiding! I better head back and inform the rest!"

And with that, Sonic sped off. Although he hated to end his run so soon, he knew what his priorities were, and finding Eggman was number one!

* * *

"And voliá! I got past the firewall!"

Mario, Luigi, and Tails immediately huddled around the computer E. Gadd was working with. On the screen, a very detailed stat screen of the Shadow android was scrolling by.

"So, could someone translate that into English?" Luigi requested, "Despite my hanging around Gadd for so long, I still haven't learned Nerd."

"Ok, let's see here..." Gadd mumbled, "Ah! Here's some good information! This robot was made only two days ago! That must mean Eggman must've found a good hideout and has already begun building new robots!"

"But wait a second..." Mario interrupted, "If that Shadow was built that recently, how could he remember destroying our boat? It couldn't have been the same android!"

"Maybe Eggman implemented some of the previous android's memory into this robot," Tails suggested, "That way, he could taunt you with that insult!"

"Sneaky..." Luigi mused, "Anyway, does it say anything about where he was created? Maybe that could tell us where his base is!"

"I'm looking, I'm looking..." Gadd murmured, "Yes! I found it! Eggman's new base is at---"

"Joke's End," came a voice from behind.

Mario, Luigi, Tails, and Gadd whirled around and saw Sonic standing in the doorway!

"Hey! Sonic! You're back!" Mario greeted.

"Yeah, I was just out doing a run," Sonic explained, "I came in just as you were checking up on 'Shadow's' memory."

"Well, I must say you certainly have impeccable timing, but there is no way you can just waltz in and say where Eggman's base is..." Gadd stopped talking as soon as he looked back at the computer screen, "Huh? You're right! It says here that this Shadow android was assembled at Joke's End! But how did you..."

"I saw Eggman's trademark smog coming from the ocean while I was on some mountaintop. It only took a quick Q&A with one of the townsfolk to find out that Joke's End is out there! So, how about we go over there and scramble Eggman, huh?"

"We can't just break into his base guns a-blazing, my boy!" Gadd protested, "We don't know much about his base, just that it's there!"

Tails answered by simply walking up to the computer and doing a little hacking of his own on the android's mainframe.

"Whoa! That kid can hack into computers?" Luigi asked in amazement.

"Yep. The little guy was building toy robots when he was four!" Sonic answered, "I think his IQ is almost as high as Eggman's!"

"Well... Uh... I think I was potty trained when I was four..."

"Got it!" Tails cried.

Suddenly, the screen flooded with images and maps of the inside of Eggman's facility! Everything from the power generators to the bathrooms were on display!

"Just as I suspected..." Tails pondered, "Eggman has to download schematics of his factories onto his robots' mainframes so that they don't get lost in their own home! With a little hacking, I was able to obtain them for our use!"

"What an amazing child..." Gadd muttered, "We need to call a group meeting together _right now_!"

* * *

Within minutes, Professor E. Gadd had everyone assembled into the main hall of Beanbean Castle. Seated in front of Gadd's makeshift stage were Knuckles, Peach, Amy, The Chaotix, Twink (still inside the Geno doll), Queen Bean, and the recently recovered Lady Lima and Prince Peasley, along with a few other Beanbean soldiers. Mario, Sonic and Tails were on the stage with Gadd, while Luigi was running the slide projector that displayed the images Tails found.

"Ok, now that everyone's here, let's begin," E. Gadd announced, "Using a little hacking into the Shadow android we recovered, we have discovered that Eggman's base is located at Joke's End."

"So let's go over there and tear it to pieces!" Knuckles shouted, throwing his fists around.

"Ah, ha... No. You see, the problem is... Luigi, next slide please."

Luigi pressed a button on the slide projector, which changed the picture from one of Joke's End to one displaying all of the security systems inside the base.

"Inside, the factory is loaded with high-end security devices! Laser detectors... video monitoring... you name it, he's got it. Eggman certainly isn't taking any chances that we might attempt to destroy the place! Remember, he doesn't know that we are aware of where he is hiding. It's best if we take advantage of that."

"I could sneak inside using my ninja tactics," Espio suggested, "I can be in and out of there before he knows what hit him."

"Ya know, for someone who loves stealth so much," Charmy began, "You sure do stink whenever you try to play Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes with me!"

"Yo, Charmy! Shut up!" Vector roared, "Don't ya see someone's trying to give a presentation here?"

"Uh... Right..." Gadd uttered, "Anyway... Espio, I was actually considering that for a while, but look here..."

He used a laser pointer to circle a part of the security mapping.

"It appears that Eggman even put in a heat sensing device in his base. Even if one was invisible to the naked eye, he could still detect them!"

Espio snapped his fingers in defeat.

"So, um, is there _any_ way to get in?" Twink asked.

"There is only one weakness I can detect. Next slide."

Luigi pushed the button again, but instead of another schematic, it was a sign that said, "Sonic, please marry me!"

"AMY!" Everyone shouted in unison.

"What?... I thought maybe Sonic would like my creativity..."

"Oh, boy..." Gadd sighed, "Next slide..."

Luigi changed it again, and this time, all the security measures in the base were listed, but one vital one was missing.

"There are no metal detectors whatsoever in the facility!" Gadd exclaimed, "Because, well, _everything's _made of metal! The detector would go bonkers!"

"So what you're saying is," Queen Bean reiterated, "if someone was to pretend he or she was a robot, they would not be figured out?"

"Exactly!"

"That is ingenious!" Prince Peasley exclaimed, "However, I got rid of my robotic shell after those Chaotix fellows freed me, so I'm afraid I can't go in there myself."

"But who can?" Peach asked, "Do we have any form of disguise that could work?"

"Unfortunately, that's the main problem," Gadd replied sullenly, "Next slide."

Now on the screen was a picture of a few of Eggman's robots, the Shadow android included.

"We only know of a few of the robots Eggman uses. I'm sure Sonic knows a bunch more, but for the rest of us, there's the following: The roboticized Beanbean citizens, the egg pawn, the heavy egg hammer, Omega, Scratch, Grounder..."

"... SWATbots, caterkiller, Decoe and Bocoe..." Sonic muttered under his breath, proving true E. Gadd's statement about the blue hedgehog.

"... And, of course, the Shadow android," the professor finished, "However, we have no robotic parts we can use for a disguise, so we're pretty much sunk."

"Well, I'm sure my Sonikku can think of something!" Amy squealed, running up onto the stage and hugging him.

"UGH! AMY! GET OFFA ME!"

While Sonic was attempting to pry his perpetual girlfriend off of him, Mario kept looking at the Shadow image on the projector and at Sonic. Although he thought they really didn't look _that_ much alike (how Shadow could trick an entire government to go after Sonic was beyond him), he could still see a resemblance. Maybe, just maybe...

"I"VE-A GOT IT!" Mario exclaimed so loudly everyone quickly turned to him, "I know how we can get someone inside!"

"Hey, cool!" Sonic replied, finally succeeding in freeing himself from Amy, "What's the plan?"

Mario paused for a moment, as if he was reviewing some aspects of his idea in his mind one last time.

"Oh, dear..." Luigi mumbled, "The last time he had that look on his face, I got turned into a yoshi..."

"We're gonna need spray paint," Mario stated, "Lots and lots of spray paint..."


	44. WaluigiWare, Inc

Sir Grodus continued to pace back and forward in his throne room. The time that Lord Crump was supposed to attack Falvio's vessel had come and gone, and he was awaiting the report. In the meantime, Grodus was continuing to flesh out his plan of revenge. During this, he realized that it wasn't the Shadow Queen alone needed his vengeance. There were also the three dark beings that had tricked him to release the Queen in the first place, The Shadow Sirens: Beldam, Marilyn, and Vivian. True, Vivian had originally deserted her sisters for Mario, but she was no less guilty in Grodus' eyes, and he swore that his punishment on the Shadow Queen would apply to all three of them as well.

Suddenly, the main screen in the room came to life again, and once again, Lord Crump appeared.

"Hey, Grodus! Guess who just blew Flavio's ship into smithereens?"

"Nice to see you are actually capable of doing something right," Grodus replied in his usual dead-pan voice, "Did you recover their bodies? We wouldn't want anyone to find them."

"Uhh..." Crump murmured, "Just a few of the X-Nauts that were on the ship when it went 'boom'... As for Flavio and the rest... We're still looking for them... We haven't found any yet..."

"YOU IMBECILE! That means they're still alive!"

"What? No it doesn't, I think..."

"The only way we know they are dead is if we find their bodies!... Fine, just don't tell me you failed to recover the Emerald Star."

"Umm... I can't tell you that."

"WHAT?"

"Look, I'm sure it's still in the water somewhere! Honestly! It's not like that magic trick some guy on board pulled off with that thing actually worked..."

"'Magic Trick'? What did he do?"

"I dunno, he just tossed the Emerald Star into the air and caught it while shouting 'Chaos Control' or someth---"

"HE DID _WHAT_? YOU IDIOT! THEY ARE ALL CERTAINLY STILL ALIVE, AND THEY ALSO HAVE THE EMERALD STAR!"

"Erm... Wait a sec... How could---"

Grodus shut off the communications before Lord Crump could continue his banter, walked over to the window, and looked out into space. His plan had failed at the hands of his incompetent second-in-command. The only thing he could do now was lie low and wait until another opportunity arose, but he was patient. Sir Grodus would wait as long as necessary to obtain his revenge.

* * *

Wario grimaced as he, along with everyone else who was onboard Flavio's ship when he activated Chaos Control, tumbled through emerald green light. The last time he attempted this stunt, he nearly threw up (although, in retrospect, he wished he had... all over Sonic), and this time was no different. Thankfully, the lightshow ended, and the entire crew got dumped onto hard ground. 

"What in the blazing bob-ombs was that?" Admiral Bobbery, getting up on his feet first, shouted, "Since when could that old scallywag Wario use jewels as a means of transportation?"

"Urp... Flavio is feeling sick..." the merchant whimpered before hurling all over the ground.

"Aw, ew... That is so disgusting..." Ms. Mowz moaned, "Why must you throw up all over my new shoes? I just bought these with the hard-stolen badges I sell!"

"Oh my, Cheese..." Cream uttered, "I wonder how Mr. Wario knew how to use Chaos Control? I thought only Sonic and Shadow could do it."

"Chao, chao..." Cheese agreed.

Rouge, however, didn't just ask this question to herself. She took a more 'direct' approach: She walked over to Wario and hoisted him up by the front of his shirt; a rather impressive stunt, considering his girth.

"Ok, mister..." Rouge began, "HOW ON MOBIUS did you manage to pull off a Chaos Control? And, of all the nerve, you used _my_ treasure to do it!"

"Oh, geez, well, I am sooooo sorry..." Wario apologized sarcastically, freeing himself from Rouge's grip, "Next time we're threatened by a crazy man with a butt-load of cannons, I'll just let you _keep_ your shiny rock and we can all be blown to Kitchen Island! And what do you mean _your _treasure? _I_ saved everyone's butt with it, _I_ should keep it!"

"Say, um... Guys?" one of the toad sailors interrupted, "Where are we exactly? I think it's some sort of city."

Everyone stopped their bickering and looked around. Sure enough, the toad was right: they were in a city indeed. Fortunately, it was still pretty early in the morning, so no one was around that was wondering how the heck a large group of people magically appeared in the middle of the street. Although most of the group was confused as to where they were, Wario recognized his surroundings immediately.

"Hey! Whatduya know? It's Diamond City! I'M HOME! YEHA!"

"Diamond City? Of course!" Bobbery exclaimed, "I've made a few trips here myself! I'm sure I can find our way back to Rogueport from here!"

"Oh, good..." Flavio responded, "Flavio is pleased... But we must certainly bring those two thieves to justice once we get there! They tried to steal the Heirloom of the House of Flav... Huh?"

Looking around, Flavio noticed that both Ms. Mowz and Rouge had disappeared!

"Where'd they go? They must face justice!"

No one could figure out where they went until one of the toads just happened to be looking in the right place at the right time and saw the duo running in opposite directions away from the group and into the city!

"There they are!" the toad squealed, "They must have sneaked away while we were gawking at the where we are! Aw, man, how could've we been so stupid?"

"Eh... Who cares..." Wario mumbled, "They were annoying anyway... In any case, now that we're back on dry ground, are you bozos gonna head back to Rogueland?"

"Rogueport." Bobbery corrected.

"Yeah, whatever."

"But of course!" Flavio answered, "I run my business from there, and so does Bobbery!... But..." He paused as he glanced at the Emerald Star that Wario was still holding, "Methinks that maybe that heirloom is too... dangerous for Flavio to keep. Perhaps you would like it? It's rather obvious that you're able to use it well... Consider it payment for saving us!"

"Really?... I can keep it?"

Flavio nodded.

"YAHOO! IT'S LIKE TAKIN' CANDY FROM A BABY... Or... more like a baby givin' me candy... Aw, screw it, either way, I get free loot!"

Wario held the Emerald Star triumphantly in the air for a moment before sticking it in his pocket.

"Well, then, I guess we'll be off..." Bobbery began, "We have to return to Rougeport, but I'm sure we'll meet again!"

"I'm sure we will, too!" Cream replied.

"Meh... Can't get rid of ya soon enough..." Wario mumbled, "Wait a second... Why is Cream sayin' that? Aren't you---"

"Let us head off, then!" Flavio exclaimed, "To Rogueport!"

Bobbery, Flavio, and the toad crew headed off into the direction of Rogueport (although one could clearly hear Flavio whining that they weren't going in the right direction). However, Wario quickly noticed that someone had stayed behind: Cream and Cheese.

"Why are you still here?" Wario demanded, "That Bobbery guy can put up with you, why don't ya go with him?"

"You said I could follow you until you got home, Mr. Wario." Cream explained.

"Are you deaf? What did I just say? I AM home! This is Diamond City! It's my hometown! Now, take a hike, kid!"

"But we aren't at your _home_ yet, just in your home_town_."

"Wha... Since when can a six-year-old come up with loopholes like that? Is your mom a lawyer or something? I said it once and I'll say it again: Take a hike, kid!"

Wario was about to storm off and leave Cream behind, but as he turned around to go, he saw her looking at him with large, puppy dog eyes that he could practically see his reflection in. He also noticed that they were starting to tear up.

_Oh, great..._ Wario thought, _She's gonna start crying again..._

Normally, Wario would have just blown her off and kept walking, leaving her to cry all by herself. However, this time, he paused for a moment. Maybe he wasn't thinking straight, or maybe he was just getting tired of arguing with Cream at every turn, or maybe, after all this time, he was actually starting to like Cream in a parental guardian sort of way, but whatever the reason, Wario winced and, almost as if he was in physical pain, said through his clenched teeth, "Alright, fine, you can come."

"Oh, thank you, Mr. Wario!" Cream replied, "You are such a nice man!"

"Chao chao CHAO!" Cheese concurred.

The rabbit and the chao went up to Wario and gave him a big thank-you hug, to which Wario quickly replied by shoving them away.

"Whoa, hey, don't push it, kid! This is an once-in-a-lifetime thing here! Next time, I'll just give you a city map and leave you on your own!"

"Kind of like how saving me from that cannonball was an 'once-in-a-lifetime thing' as well, Mr. Wario?"

"Erm... Yeah..." Wario sputtered, realizing he just got shot down by a six-year-old. He began to walk briskly down the street, but, not surprisingly, Cream was able to keep up.

"You know, Mr. Wario," Cream began, "You remind me of another friend I once had."

"Oh, yeah? Who?" Wario asked, not really interested, "Let me guess: That Knucklehead, right?"

"Well, actually, you're kind of like him as well," Cream answered with a giggle, "but I was thinking of Blaze the Cat."

"_Blaze _the _Cat_?" Wario repeated in disgust, "Are you comparing me to a _girl_?"

"She didn't want to be friends with anyone when she came to our world," the rabbit explained, "She just wanted to find her Sol Emeralds and return home, just like you, Mr. Wario!"

"Chao chao!" Cheese called out.

"Still... You're comparing me to a _girl_... But those Sol Emeralds sound nice... Is she as over-protective of her stuff as dread-head is?"

"I found her as soon as she came to our dimension," she continued, ignoring Wario, "but she only really wanted me to help her find her way around, not to be her friend... But after a while, we became friends anyway! She even saved me from Eggman when he tried to kidnap me! Just like how we're friends you saved me from nearly getting hit by that cannonball!"

"Chao! Chao chao CHAO!"

"Whoa, hold up, kid... 'Friend'? Since when am I your 'friend'? I only saved you from that cannonball so Sonic won't give me a face-full of spikes when I see him again! Hey, are you even listening to me?..."

"... But after she defeated Eggman and got the last Sol Emerald, we had to say goodbye... I hope I'll get to see her again someday..."

"Chao chao..."

"Oh, wow, that's sooooo depressing," Wario commented sarcastically, "What are ya pathetically trying to do, send me a guilt trip?... Anyway, before you get too emo, kid, I want to stop by my office building. I wanna make sure no one screwed anything up _too_ much while I was gone..."

"You have an office building?"

"Oh, yeah! You better believe it, kid!" Wario exclaimed, getting into 'sales-pitch' mode, "WarioWare, Inc.: developer of such fine games such as _Gold Digger_ and _Clog It_! I make millions from it, I tell ya! MILLIONS!"

"That sounds grand, Mr. Wario! I can't wait to see it!"

As they rounded the corner onto the street that Wario's business was on, Cream anxiously looked around for it. After a few moments of searching, she found it, but something looked odd.

"Uh... Mr. Wario?"

"Yeah?"

"You said your company was called _Wario_Ware..."

"You got a problem with that? What else would I name it except after the amazingness that is me?"

"But the sign over the building doesn't say that..."

"Huh? Whaduya mean?"

Wario looked in the direction Cream was pointing. Sure enough, it was his office building, but there was _one_ _tiny_ difference in the sign hanging over the front entrance.

"**_WALUIGI_**WARE, INC.?" Wario roared, smoke virtually pouring out of his nostrils and his face turning as red as Knuckles, "THAT BACKSTABBIN' LITTLE TWIT MUSTA TOOK OVER MY COMPANY WHEN I GOT BLASTED OVER TO SONIC-LAND! When I get my hands on that twig-shaped 'brother' of mine I'm gonna..."

Wario didn't even take the time to finish his own sentence before marching into the building in no less than an unquenchable fury, with poor Cream and Cheese struggling to keep up with the rage-filled madman. Inside, the building looked just as Wario had left it, only every picture of _Wario_ was replaced with one of _Waluigi_. At the front desk was a very surprised woman, whom Wario immediately took his anger out on first.

"Oh! Wario!" the woman called out, "What a surprise! We all thought you were---"

"SHUT UP, MONA! WHERE'S WALUIGI?" Wario demanded, "I need to _return the favor_ for him looking over the company while I was gone!"

"Um... He's upstairs..." Mona replied meekly, "In his... I mean... Your office..."

Without any further delay, Wario stormed past the front desk and into the rest of the building. Still as polite as ever, Cream and Cheese walked up to the front desk next.

"Why, hello there!" Mona greeted, "Sorry you had to see that... What can I do for you?"

"Actually, Ms. Mona, I'm with Mr. Wario!" Cream explained, "He was lost when I found him, so I helped him find his way back here!"

"Ah, well then, I guess you can just follow him... But be careful. Wario can get pretty... destructive when he's mad."

"Don't worry, I will! Right, Cheese?"

"Chao! Chao!"

The duo walked into the next room, which took up a majority of the building. It was a huge room filled with cubicles. However, unlike most offices, the cubicles were quite large and appeared to be greatly decorated by the individuals who worked in them. What was most notable about the room, though, was that Mona was indeed right: They couldn't find Wario, but it was clear where he had been. Punched in walls, overturned tables, he had even _marched _in such a fervor of fury that he actually left indentations in the ground! At the very least, this made it easier for Cream to find him.

"Come on, Cheese! Let's follow his footprints!"

The two of them began to do just that. Cheese, however, had the ability to hover over the room and see the big picture of things. While seeing where Wario's tracks eventually led, Cheese noticed what looked like another chao wandering though the maze of cubicles! Forgetting about his original mission, Cheese floated down to greet him.

* * *

"Aw, man..." Red moaned, looking at a piece of paper as he walked, "I can't believe I gotta find this... this _thing_ for Ashley! I haven't ever seen one in my entire life, and she wants me to find one by lunch! What am I gonna do? One isn't just gonna fall out of the sky!" 

Suddenly, Red glanced up and saw Cheese come flying down and land right in front of him!

"Chao! Chao!" Cheese greeted.

"'Chao'?... Wait, it can't be..." Red immediately inspected Cheese and then looked back at the paper, "There isn't any possible way... Is there?"

"Chao? Chao?"

"You... You're a chao! You are EXACTLY what Ashley's looking for! Hey, come with me!"

Red ran off, leaving a slightly confused Cheese behind. When Red realized that Cheese wasn't following him, he came back and tried to encourage him to move... with a pitchfork!

"Hey! Come on! Ashley's waiting here!" Red insisted, jabbing Cheese with the pitchfork.

"CHAO!" Cheese screamed in pain.

After a little more 'encouraging', Red led Cheese into one of the cubicles. This one was mostly painted black, and in the center was a large, bubbling caldron! Standing behind the large pot was what looked like a teenaged girl who looked a little... evil...

"Ashley! Lookie what I found! It's a chao!" Red exclaimed.

"Hmm..." Ashley responded, "Perfect. He's just what I need for my new spell. Just throw him in the caldron."

"CHAO?" Cheese yelled.

"Shut up, you little pipsqueak!" Red demanded, "This will only hurt a bit..."

Red picked Cheese up and attempted to throw him in the boiling pot. However, as soon as Cheese's bottom touched the hot water...

"CHAO!" Cheese squealed, leaping fifteen feet into the air and over the cubicle wall!

"Yikes! He got away!" Red shouted, "Want me to go find him again?"

"No, that's ok..." Ashley replied, "I only needed the _fur_ of a chao to complete the spell, and it looks like some fell in the pot when you threw him in. Besides, if I do need more... I can always use you."

"..."

* * *

"Cheese? Cheese? I wonder where he went..." 

While Cream was pondering this, she saw Cheese frantically flying up to her and cuddling into the safety of her arms.

"Cheese? What's wrong? Are you ok?"

"Chao... Chao... Chao..." Cheese panted.

"It's okay, Cheese, I'm here..." Cream assured, hugging her friend.

While Cream was trying to calm Cheese, she felt something nudging at her foot. Looking down, she saw a small dog with yellow fur who was sniffing at her leg.

"Why, hello there!" Cream greeted, "Who are you?"

Almost as if on cue, she saw a young girl walk around the corner, which Cream assumed was the owner of the dog. Although she didn't look any older than Cream, she appeared to be wearing a ninja outfit!

"Oh! There you are, Shadow!" The girl called out, "Come here, boy!"

The dog quickly ran back to its owner, who began to pet it on top of its head.

_Shadow?_ Cream thought, _How funny, he has the same name as Mr. Shadow!_

The girl looked up from petting her dog and looked at Cream.

"Hey, I haven't seen you around here before!" The girl said, "What's you name?"

"My name's Cream. What's yours?"

"I'm Ana, and this is my dog, Shadow! Say hi, Shadow!"

The dog yipped happily in response.

"Chao! Chao!" Cheese also responded, as if he understood what the dog was saying.

"Say, do you wanna to come back to our cubicle?" Ana asked, "Me and my sister, Kat, are kinda bored. We could always use another playmate!"

"That sounds like a grand idea!" Cream replied.

And so, the two six-year-olds and their pets walked back to Kat and Ana's cubicle, Cream figuring that maybe it was best to wait until Wario's anger died down before she'd try to find him.

* * *

Wario literally knocked the doors to his office off their hinges as he entered the room. Sitting at his desk was Waluigi, who, up until two seconds ago, was relaxing behind the table in Wario's own motorcycle outfit, which was sagging on him to ridiculous proportions. Of course, seeing a completely berserk Wario took the smug smile off his face. 

"AHH! Uh... Wario! It's you!..." Waluigi sputtered, "I mean, it's so great to see that you're ali---"

Waluigi didn't get a chance to finish before he was grabbed by his neck, hoisted out of the chair, tossed out a ten-story window, and land with a loud 'CRASH!' in a dumpster outside.

"Ah, forget about it, 'bro.' All is forgiven..." Wario sighed, now completely calm. Although Wario couldn't recover his biker uniform, which was what he normally wore to work, before doing a little javelin tossing practice with Waluigi, he was able to get back his helmet, which he quickly replaced his standard yellow cap with.

"Ugh... I'm finally home... But I have no giant emerald, no seven smaller-but-equally-pricy emeralds, and the only thing I _did_ get was an annoying kid that won't leave me alone! And all of this because I agreed to help that crazy doctor! That's it, no more working with that Egg-guy EVER AGAIN!"

Suddenly, Wario heard something tapping on the window!

"Huh? What, did Waluigi actually manage to climb all the way back up..."

As Wario looked out the window he saw not Waluigi, but a weird looking black creature with a messenger bag and a jet pack strapped to his back!

"What the?..." Wario mumbled as he opened the window to let the thing in. It promptly knocked Wario back into his chair as he flew by, did a few aerial tricks in the room, and landed in front of Wario on his desk.

"Ok, who the HECK are ya?" Wario demanded.

"I'm Bokkun!" the creature replied, "And I have a message from Dr. Eggman!"

Before Wario could respond, Bokkun reached into his bag and pulled out a small TV. Placing it on the desk right in front of Wario, he turned it on, and Eggman's familiar mug appeared.

"Greetings, Wario!" Eggman began, "If Bokkun has delivered this message to you, then that means I know exactly where you are! Now, I suggest you report back to me as soon as possible; Bokkun will gladly show you the way."

"Bah! Phooey!" Wario grunted, "I'm not working with Egghead anymore and that's FINAL!"

"And if you refuse my offer..." Eggman continued, "I can just send a few yoshitrons to your precious office building, reduce it to rubble, and drag you back! And I assure you, I have no problem with using the roboticizer on my 'former employees'... Now, what is it that you say as a 'goodbye'? Ah, yes! Have a rotten day!"

Suddenly, and without warning, the TV exploded in Wario's face. When he recovered from the blast, Wario noticed Bokkun laughing his head off.

"Well, that's all I came here for!" Bokkun declared, "So long, chum!"

Bokkun attempted to fly off, but Wario quickly grabbed him.

"Why you stupid little pipsqueak..." Wario growled, "I'll show you!"

He then pulled the messenger bag off Bokkun's shoulder, stuffed him in it, and threw _him_ out the window, just like he did with Waluigi. While Wario had a good laugh as he listened to Bokkun scream as he fell, the realization of the threat started to sink in.

"The... The roboticizer?..." Wario gulped. He had seen what it did to the yoshis. It had turned them into mindless robotic slaves... And Eggman wanted to put _him_ in it! And there was no way he could fight back; one yoshitron, as he recalled, could kick both his and Waluigi's butts single-handedly! If Eggman sent one of those after him, he was a goner! For the first time in Wario's life, he was afraid.

"I don't wanna be a robot... What am I gonna do?"

While he was thinking, he heard a knock at the door... Or, the door frame, more specifically, since the doors were lying on the floor where Wario had knocked them off. He hastily pulled himself together and reverted back to his normal, grouchy self.

"Come in," Wario grunted.

Cream entered Wario's office. However, instead of her normal outfit, she was wearing a kimono, and her ears were 'tied' into a stylish bow behind her head.

"Huh?" Wario muttered, slightly confused by Cream's new appearance, "Oh, wait... Don't tell me... Kat and Ana asked you to play 'dress-up' with them, didn't they?"

"Uh-huh," Cream replied, "They were really nice, and Cheese seems to like their animal friends, too!"

Wario wasn't really paying attention to Cream. He was still busy worrying about Eggman's threat. How could he save himself? Hiding wouldn't work. Eggman could probably find him no matter what. And, for once, fighting his way out was out of the question. The yoshitron alone could beat him, let alone an army of them! There was only one other option: Switch sides. Again. Sure, Mario and Sonic probably still hate him, and Knuckles would most likely rip his lungs out the minute he saw him, but maybe... Just maybe, if he played his cards right, they'd let him back in. After all, they now shared a common enemy in Eggman.

"Uh... Hey... Cream?" Wario asked, "Ya know what? I just remembered that I need to find Sonic myself. Maybe I _won't_ just dump you off here and let you look for blue boy yourself... I'll... I'll come along too."

"Oh, thank you, Mr. Wario!" Cream thanked, "I was hoping you'd decide to help me find him! Let me just go return this kimono to Kat and Ana and then we can go look for him together!"

As Cream left the room, Wario pulled the Emerald Star out of his pocket. Thankfully, Bokkun didn't seem to notice it, so Eggman would probably never figure out he had it... hopefully. Slightly still on edge, he walked over to a picture of himself (one of the few Waluigi did _not_ replace) hanging on the wall and removed it, revealing a safe, which he put the Emerald Star in. That way, if Eggman caught him, he wouldn't have the Emerald Star, too.

"Ok..." Wario told himself, "If everyone sees how I took care of that stupid kid, and how I recovered one of these Emerald Star things, they gotta let me rejoin their side, right?"

* * *

Outside, in the alleyway next to WarioWare Inc., Waluigi was finally managing to pull himself out of the dumpster. Dusting himself off (and removing Wario's motorcycle outfit), he looked up at where he fell from. 

"Aw, man, what a jerk..." Waluigi grumbled, "I look after his company while he's gone and what does he do to thank me? Throw me out a window! Ok... Sure, I _did_ kinda make it _my_ company, but still..."

While Waluigi was complaining to no one in particular, he noticed a messenger bag lying on the ground. Oddly enough, it was moving! Something was alive in it!

"Huh? Hey, what's in that thing?"

Waluigi cautiously opened the bag, and saw a small black creature inside, and it appeared to be crying!

"What the?... Whatcha brawling about, bub?"

The creature stopped crying and looked up at Waluigi.

"Wa... Waluigi?"

"Hey, how did you know my---"

"Grr... I'm Bokkun, and your brother was a big meanie! He threw me out a window! And you're probably as big a meanie as he is! So, I'm not gonna give you a chance to do anything mean! I'm gonna bring you to Eggman right now!"

"Wait... WHAT?"

Before Waluigi could say anything more, Bokkun pulled a bomb out of his messenger bag and tossed it at him. However, the blast wasn't that big, but there was quite a bit of smoke.

"Ha! Ha!" Waluigi laughed, "You call that a bomb? It didn't... Explode... At... ... All... ... ..."

Suddenly, Waluigi passed out.

"He, he, he!" Bokkun giggled, "That bomb was full of sleeping gas! Now you're gonna find out what happens to those who betray Eggman!"


	45. In the Cover of Shadow

"Ugh! Mario! This stuff _still_ reeks! I thought you said the stench went away when the paint dried!"

Mario looked up. He was standing, Double Dash style, on the back of the Cyclone, which Tails was currently piloting towards Eggman's base at Joke's End. On top of the upper wing was Sonic, but he looked rather different. Instead of his normal blue color, he was now jet black, and his head quills where shaped differently. In fact, he looked just like Shadow!

"Well, uh..." Mario tried to explain, "The spray paint is supposed to be used on walls and furniture and things like that, not blue hedgehogs that can run faster than the speed of sound..."

"Oh, wonderful, you coulda told me that _before_ you sprayed me with the stuff! How did I get roped into this anyway?"

"Mario's logic is really quite simple, Sonic!" Tails answered, "Remember how, when Shadow was first released, everyone thought you were the one causing havoc? Well, we're just returning the favor for Eggman by fooling _him_!"

"Hey, I know I look convincing, but Eggman's got an I.Q. of 300! Do you think he's really gonna be fooled?"

"We have to try, Sonic! After all, we don't have to trick Eggman himself, just the robots that monitor who's going through the factory!"

"And if it's who I think it is..." Sonic pondered, his confidence suddenly increasing rapidly, "Then we have nothing at all to worry about! Heh, heh!"

"Besides," another voice continued, "if you get in any trouble, _I'll _save you!"

Everyone turned towards Amy, who was sitting in the back seat of the Cyclone. She, too, was disguised as a Shadow clone. However, since she had... features... that Shadow didn't, she resorted not to spray paint, but a giant, rather unconvincing, Shadow 'team mascot'-ish costume.

"I dunno..." Sonic humorously mused, "Methinks you're more likely to get caught first... Shadow Doll."

"Please don't remind me..." Tails pleaded, "I _still_ get nightmares of that creepy doll Eggman made of me..."

"Hey!" Amy protested, "At least this costume doesn't have an obnoxious red dangling thing on its head!"

"Whoa! Calm down, everyone!" Mario requested, "Tails, could you contact E. Gadd so we can go over the mission one last time?"

Tails pulled out his own Gameboy Horror (Gadd gave him one before they left) and turned it on. E. Gadd quickly appeared alongside Luigi.

"Ah, Tails, my boy!" Gadd greeted, "Good to see the Gameboy Horror is working for you, heh, heh! So, what do you need?"

"Mario wants to go over the mission one last time before we go in," Amy explained.

"Oh, okay-dokie!" Luigi replied, "... Say, has anyone told you how creepy that costume looks?"

"Not you too..."

"Uh, anyway..." E. Gadd began, "Here's the plan... Step One: Sonic and Amy enter the base proper. Hopefully, their disguises will be good enough to get past security. Step Two: Sonic and Amy will deactivate all of the base's security systems, allowing Mario access to the base through a ventilation shaft. Step Three: Mario finds Eggman's Mean Bean Machine and reverses it, freeing all the enslaved Beanbean citizens. I will use the 'Warping Warp Pipe' to get them out safely. Step Four: Sonic and Amy recover the Beanstar. And Step Five: Everyone gets out of the base alive! Tails will wait outside in the Cyclone until you return; he's your getaway driver. Now, good luck, everyone!"

"Yeah!" Luigi agreed, "Don't die or anything!"

"Very reassuring..." Sonic moaned.

"Alright, guys!" Tails shouted, "We're approaching Joke's End right now!"

Sure enough, Joke's End was coming into view, although it was barely recognizable to Mario. Instead of the ice palace he once knew, it was now a mechanical nightmare. As Tails piloted the Cyclone over the both sandy and snowy beach, Sonic and Amy leaped out and landed on the ground.

"Ok! Sonic! Amy!" Tails called out, "Be careful! We're counting on you!"

"Don't worry, buddy!" Sonic promised, "We'll be fine!"

"Of course we will be!" Amy reiterated, hugging Sonic, "I've got my Sonikku to protect me!"

"Amy! Let go! Now's not the time!"

"Oh, guys! I almost forgot!" Tails interrupted as he tossed two green emeralds to the duo.

"What are those?" Mario asked, "They look like the Chaos Emeralds!"

"Exactly! They're two _fake_ Chaos Emeralds. I originally made one to fool Eggman when he was trying to launch the Eclipse Cannon, but he figured it out, and now he's making his own! That copycat! Anyway, he equips every one of his Shadow androids with one so they can perform Chaos attacks with them. That's why the Shadow android used 'Chaos Spear' when he was fighting you! Thankfully, the fakes are quite a bit less powerful than the real ones. Otherwise, I don't think you would have survived that attack..."

"Don't remind me..." Mario mumbled. He still cringed when he thought about how painful that attack was.

"Anyway, I figured the fake Chaos Emeralds would add to the realism. Just an afterthought, you know?"

"Thanks, big guy! Well, see ya, Tails!" Sonic called out as he and Amy ran towards the entrance of the base, "Try not to let Mario get himself in any trouble, ok?"

"Hey! I heard that!" Mario shouted, but Sonic and Amy were already inside, "Grr... Is he always that annoying?"

* * *

"Gee, Sonic, I wonder if these disguises will work." Amy pondered to herself as the disguised duo walked though the first few rooms of the factory. 

"Mine? Definitely!" Sonic chuckled as he tossed his fake emerald into the air, "Not only do I look like him, I've got Shadow's personality down and everything. Watch this..." Sonic immediately dropped to the floor in an over-exaggerated, agonizing way, "MARIA! I promise you... REVENGE!"

"I thought he got over his past after that whole Black Arms ordeal..."

"Point well taken," Sonic replied as he got back up, "I just couldn't resist mocking him, heh, heh."

"Well, what about my disguise, Sonic? Do I look convincing?"

"Erm... No offence, but you really _are_ only a few notches up from Tails Doll. Only a complete idiot would fall for that."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?" Amy, finally losing her patience with the 'Shadow Doll' gibes, shouted while brandishing her hammer, "IF ONLY AN IDIOT WOULD FALL FOR THIS, WHY DID YOU LET ME WEAR IT?"

Sonic was about to reply when he heard someone else approaching.

"Hey? What's going on over there?" one voice called out

"Yeah! What's with all the ruckus?" another agreed.

"Because..." Sonic explained quietly to Amy, "The only robots who work around here _are_ idiots! Why, hello there, Scratch and Grounder!"

Sure enough, the voices belonged to Scratch and Grounder. As the two 'dumb-bots' came up to the two 'Shadow Androids', Sonic immediately began to put on his Shadow act again.

"What's the big idea here?" Scratch demanded, "Why are you out of your pod?"

"I'm trying to find the secrets to my past." Sonic answered with such an incredible amount of fake angst, it was downright hilarious, "Who am I? Why am I here? What is my purpose? Why do I find myself suddenly wanting to shoot a gun?"

While Scratch was busy completely being oblivious to all obvious signs that Sonic was standing right in front of him, Grounder began to question Amy.

"What about you? What are _you_ doing outside of your pod?"

Unfortunately, Amy wasn't quite as experienced with the whole acting thing.

"Well... Um... Er... Maria?"

"Maria? Isn't he that plumber guy with the red cap?"

"No, you nincom-bot!" Scratch retorted, hitting Grounder over the head, "That's Mari_o_! Mari_a_ is that dead girl Shadow always whines about!"

"Oh... I knew that!"

"Look, you two," Scratch continued, "you aren't supposed to be out of your pods unless authorized by the notorious and rotten Dr. Robotnik himself!"

"Ah, yes, the Doctor..." Sonic agreed, continuing his Shadow impression, "Perhaps _he_ has the answers... Or he'll just confuse me even more like he always does."

Scratch responded by grabbing both 'Shadows' by their head quills and hauling them off, much to the surprise of Sonic and Amy.

"Well, too bad!" Scratch shot back, "You aren't getting any 'answers' right now!"

"Yeah!" Grounder concurred, "You two are going back into your pods, where you belong!"

"Yeah! And Dr. Robotnik will give _me_ a promotion for catching these two runaways!"

"No way! _I_ saw them first!"

"But _I_ caught them first!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Are you getting the idea that our disguises worked a little _too_ well?" Sonic asked Amy as they were being dragged off.

However, what neither Sonic, Amy, Scratch, nor Grounder noticed was that there was another person in the room. Hiding in the darkness in a small alcove near the ceiling, a barely visible form watched the whole scene. Although one could not make out most of his features, one could tell that it was the form of a hedgehog, and he was holding a gun.

"Hmph... So that's what he thinks I act like, hmm?" the character mused, "Heh, when it comes to imitating me, he's _still_ the faker."

He returned to silence, deep in thought. As he was plotting his next move, he looked down at what he was holding in his other hand: A radiant, yellow emerald in the shape of Klevar the Star Spirit.

* * *

"THIS IS OF UNFAIRNESS! I AM DEMANDING THAT YOU LET ME GO, YOU FINK-RATS OF BACKSTABBING!" 

"Oh, shut up, you little loser! We don't care!" Bowser roared at Fawful, who was now locked up in a tiny cage in the command room, "All we wanted was the Beanstar! Now that we have that, we have no use of you!"

"You're right, Bowser, my huge scaly friend," Eggman agreed, "Rule number one, Fawful: Never trust anyone... Especially us."

"So, Doc..." Bowser began, "Now that we have the Beanstar, why don't we go and make your little wish of a new Robotropolis a reality?"

"Well, I've already tried to do that..." Eggman replied, "But I've come across a bit of a problem. The Beanstar doesn't seem to respond to anything I say. It's almost like it's sleeping..."

At this point, Bowser whacked himself in the forehead.

"Duh! Of course it isn't working!" Bowser repeated, "I completely forgot! The legend says that only the voice of someone with a pure heart can awaken the Beanstar from its slumber!"

"Are you sure about this?"

"Heck, yeah! That little bean freak over there stole Princess Peach's voice so he could do that! The next time I went over to kidnap her, I got bombarded with 'explosive' vocabulary!"

"What? The Princess swore? What's so kidnap hindering about that?"

"No... 'Explosive' in the literal sense..."

"Ok, I think maybe it's best if I _don't_ ask for more of an explanation... Anyway, if we need someone pure of heart to awaken that thing, what do we do?"

"Hmm... I know! I think Peach is still hanging around in Beanbean Castle! Heh, heh... I think it's high time that Princess gets kidnapped again."

Bowser and Eggman shared an evil laugh before going to prepare for another raid on Beanbean Castle, leaving Fawful behind in his cage to fume to himself.

"Grr... Your treachery of deceitfulness will be stricken back by the one that is me! I will melt the sundae of your plan into the puddle that is failure! YOU WILL EAT THE POISON MUSHROOM OF MY REVENGE, YOU FINK-RATS!"

* * *

As Scratch and Grounder dragged the disguised Sonic and Amy through the factory, the two hedgehogs tried to survey their surroundings. From what they could tell, they were being 'escorted' across a high catwalk. Far below, a huge labyrinth of conveyor belts carried half-completed Shadow androids around to various assembly line machines that added new parts to the robots. 

"Wow, would you look at all those Shadow androids!" Amy whispered to Sonic, "Why is Eggman building so many of them all of the sudden?"

"Probably because they make such good foot soldiers," Sonic replied equally as quiet, "he _is_ the ultimate life form, after all."

"But what about all those Beanbean citizens he's been capturing and roboticizing?"

"I dunno... He probably has them hidden deeper in the base. He can always build more Shadow androids at another location if someone stops their production here, he can't do that with roboticized victims."

"Say, Sonic... How are we going to shut down the security systems if we're going to be put in 'pods'? And what are these pods, anyway?"

Sonic didn't get a chance to respond before Scratch, having arrived at their destination, answered for him.

"Alright, Grounder, here's the pods. Let's throw them in!"

Sonic and Amy looked up and saw the containers. They were round in shape and were mostly made up of a red metal. In the front was green tinted glass which quickly lifted up, allowing the two robots to throw the two hedgehogs in.

"Whoa, hey, guys!" Sonic protested, "You don't wanna put us in _there_!"

"Why not?" Grounder questioned, "Dr. Robotnik told us that the Shadow androids are supposed to be in a pod when not in use!"

"Because... I'm claustrophobic! If you put me in that pod, I'll go bonkers! Loopy! Completely nuts!"

"Oh, ok, that's a good reason," Grounder concluded.

"You idiot! He's just trying to trick us!" Scratch retorted, "Nice try, bub, but we're smarter than _that_! You're going in there whether you want to or not!"

Without any further ado, Scratch threw Sonic and Amy into separate pods. Before either of them got a chance to react, restraints clamped around their arms and legs, holding them in place, while the glass front slid shut. If that wasn't bad enough, the containers began filling up with an odd colored liquid! For a Shadow android, this wasn't much of a problem, as robots don't need to breathe, but Sonic and Amy certainly weren't robots! The only thing they could do was hold their breath as the fluid rose over their mouths.

"Goodie!" Grounder exclaimed, "We captured the wayward androids! All I have to do is put them back in the storage chamber and Robotnik will give me another promotion!"

"_You_ a promotion?" Scratch protested, "Hah! _I_ was the one who caught them!"

"Was not!"

"Was too!"

"Was not!"

"Was too!"

"Was not!"

As the two of them were arguing, a pair of giant claws came down and lifted the containers holding Sonic and Amy off the platform and carried them away. After a few moments, the cranes entered a giant vault filled with literally millions of Shadow android pods! After weaving through aisles of Shadow clones for a minute or so, Sonic and Amy were placed on a high ledge somewhere within the huge warehouse... Having not deactivated the security systems, no one knowing where they were, and quickly running out of oxygen.


	46. Egg Factory, World 1:1

Outside, Tails kept the Cyclone hovering above the Joke's End base, waiting for a sure sign that the security systems were deactivated. Mario, however, was growing rather impatient.

"They're taking too long in there..." Mario commented, "Something isn't right."

"We can't know for sure," Tails replied, "maybe they're just got a little lost looking for the control room."

"Still, I just _know_ that something's wrong... Call it plumber's intuition."

"Well, there isn't much you can do until they shut down the security, anyway. If you try to get in there, the alarms will go off!"

"I may not be able to prevent setting off the defense system..." Mario began, suddenly climbing over the edge of the plane, "But I _can_ make them think it's a false alarm!"

"Wait! Mario! What are?..."

"Trust me! I know what I'm doing!" Mario responded before he leaped off and landed on the roof of the base a short distance below.

"Sigh... I guess Sonic's impatience is starting to rub off on him..."

* * *

Down below, Mario (fortunately) discovered that the roof of the base had little-to-no security measures. Apparently, they were all used _inside_ the building. Walking around on the roof, it didn't take Mario long to find what he was looking for: a large snowdrift that had formed since the factory's completion. He took a large scoop and formed it into a rather poorly shaped snowball. Then, he found a nearby ventilation shaft that, thankfully, was _not_ belching out black smoke. Mario removed the grate covering the front and crawled in, still holding the snowball.

Mario slowly shimmied down the vent as it became more vertical, and he kept on going until he heard the inevitable: a siren go off. Not to his surprise, the air vent had motion sensors that detected his presence. However, he kept going until he was just above another grated opening. Looking down, he saw a group of Egg Pawns converging underneath, trying to figure out what set the alarm off. Eventually, Scratch came marching over, too.

"Hey! What's the big idea here?" Scratch demanded, "What's going on?"

"PRESENCE DETECTED IN VENTILATION SHAFT," one of the Egg Pawns replied.

"Huh? Is that so?" Scratch replied, glancing upwards into the vent above him.

This was Mario's cue. He immediately dropped the snowball he was carrying and watched as it landed right on Scratch's head with a satisfying 'splat!'

"ACK! What the?..." Scratch sputtered, wiping snow off his face, "Oh, so _that's_ what it was! You nincom-bots! That was just some snow that happened to fall through the vents! It's just a stupid false alarm! Get back to work!"

The Egg Pawns obeyed. They left the area (Scratch included) and the alarm turned back off.

"Heh, heh..." Mario snickered to himself, "I knew that would work..."

Carefully detaching the covering, Mario quietly dropped down and began to sneak down the hall. Eventually, he reached the same catwalk Sonic and Amy were dragged down before. This time however, he heard someone coming the other way! Frantically, Mario turned around and tried to run back, but someone else was also coming from behind!

"Uh, oh!" Mario muttered, "Now what?"

The two characters came into view on the catwalk at almost the same time. Not surprisingly, they were Scratch and Grounder. Scratch appeared to be trying to push some real heavy equipment, and he was having a lot of trouble with it.

"Hey, Grounder! Get your metal butt over here and lend me a hand!"

"Huh? Why should I help you?"

"Because I said so, that's why!"

Grounder, unable to come up with any form of comeback, began to approach his 'brother'. However, what neither one of them was aware of was that Mario was hanging onto the bottom of the grated catwalk, with his fingers poking out over the top slightly. Unfortunately for the plumber, he had to bite his lip to keep himself from screaming when Grounder's treads ran over his fingertips!

"Urp..." Mario whimpered, "Does stuff like this ever happen to that Sam Fisher guy?"

"So, whadduya want?" Grounder asked once he was face-to-face with Scratch.

"I need you to help me push this stupid piece of equipment down to the repair lab!"

"What's wrong with it?"

"THIS is what's wrong with it!" Scratch declared pointing to a series of bullet holes in the side, "Some robot probably shot it up during target practice!"

"But don't all of Dr. Robotnik's robots use lasers? Why would there be bullet holes?"

_Good question_, Mario thought to himself,_ could someone else be infiltrating the base? But who do we know that uses a gun?..._

"Who cares!" Scratch replied, "Just help me push this thing!"

Grounder complied and aided Scratch in shoving the huge electronic across the catwalk... and right over Mario's fingers again. This time, however, the pain was too much to bear, causing him to let go and fall downwards towards the maze of conveyor belts below!

Mario landed on one of the belts with a 'thud,' and quickly got up to observe his immediate surroundings. He didn't get much time to look around, though, as he quickly had to dodge a falling giant slab of metal! Looking further down the line, Mario saw that there were giant stampers that molded the metal into one of the Shadow androids' body parts. Of course, if he wasn't careful, Mario might have gotten 'stamped' himself!

"Uh, oh... Looks like I'm gonna have to do some old fashioned platforming here!" Mario exclaimed, adjusting his hat on his head, "Well, let's-a go!"

And so he did. Mario leaped into the air and landed on top of the stamper as it came down. When it was going back up, Mario used the extra momentum to catapult him high into the air until he could reach a robotic arm welding something together. He then spun around the arm like a gymnast until he had enough speed to launch himself forward. He flew right into the side of a tall pillar (supposedly suspending all of this equipment in the air), to which he immediately wall-kicked off of, propelling him upwards to the relative safety of a higher conveyor belt.

"Hmm... I still got it!" Mario chuckled to himself.

Unfortunately, he wasn't laughing long. Another robotic arm came swooping down and knocked Mario over! Even worse, when he landed, his arm carelessly fell under one of the stampers and was immediately encased inside the arm of a Shadow android and strapped firmly to the belt!

"Aw, shroom... This isn't good."

Trying to turn around and see what was next, Mario noticed two giant blades that swung by to remove any excess metal before the arm was attached to the body! If Mario couldn't free his limb before then, he would be 'removed' from the Shadow android arm... and his real arm! Panicking, Mario franticly tried to come up with a plan to free his appendage, but to no avail.

Suddenly, with only about ten seconds before he 'got the chop,' Mario got an idea! Although his arm was 'roboticized' (in all practical sense, it was), he still had complete control over it. Using this factoid, Mario began to build up a fireball in his robo-palm. Slowly, the metal began to glow bright red. Then, only three seconds from the blades, Mario heard a 'pop!' and saw his real hand partially sticking out! As fast as he could, Mario ripped the rest of the metal off his arm (regardless of how hot it was) and leaped backwards, narrowly dodging the blades.

"Phew! That was close!" Mario mused to himself, "But I'm getting nowhere fast. If I want to get back up to the main level, I should probably follow this assembly line to the very end."

With a high triple jump, Mario was able to reach the main conveyor belt where the androids were being assembled in earnest. Pursuing the line until the end, Mario saw the Shadow androids being loaded into giant pods and carried off somewhere into the factory. As soon as next android was put in a pod, Mario ran over and grabbed onto the side of the container as it was picked up and carried off. After hanging around in the air for a few scary moments, the pod entered a warehouse holding millions of similar pods filled with Shadow androids!

"Momma mia..." Mario mumbled, "Why Eggman has never just sent every one of these out at the same time and conquer the world by lunchtime---"

Mario's thought process was interrupted when he saw two containers where the Shadow androids inside where trying to break free! On closer inspection, he realized that they were Sonic and Amy!

"WHOA! No wonder they didn't shut down the security system! Hold on guys! I'm coming!"

Mario leaped off the pod he was clinging to and landed next to Sonic's pod.

"Sonic! Are you ok in there?" Mario franticly asked.

Sonic just shook his head no, as he couldn't open his mouth, or he'd let the fluid in.

"Hold on, Sonic! I'll get you out!"

Mario looked at the control panel on the front of the pod, but none of the buttons were labeled. Rather that risk killing Sonic by changing the conditions inside the pod, Mario ran behind the capsule and began shoving it forward, towards the edge of the shelf. All this time, Mario thought he heard Sonic moaning in protest to what he was going to do, but he just ignored it. Eventually, the pod tipped over the edge, falling twenty-five feet before hitting the ground, shattering the glass and freeing him. Mario quickly did the same for Amy's pod. After releasing both hedgehogs, Mario, too, dropped down to ground level to discover that they were both fine.

"Gag... Ugh... Thanks, Mario," Sonic sputtered, "For a middle-aged guy, you're pretty cool."

"Well, you know what they say: Respect your elders!" Mario replied with a laugh.

"Oh jeez! This stupid costume is all wet!" Amy complained, "Does anyone mind if I take it off?"

Both Mario and Sonic looked at her awkwardly.

"Don't worry, I have my dress on underneath!"

"Oh! Ok! Fine!" the two heroes agreed in unison, rather relieved.

Amy removed the oversized mascot outfit and cast it aside in a soggy heap. This caused Sonic to remember _his_ disguise. Looking down, he noticed that the fluid had washed away almost all the paint, reverting him back to his normal, blue color.

"Hmm... So much for the undercover approach," Mario mentioned, "I guess you two just have to be more careful from now on."

Mario took out his Gameboy Horror and contacted E. Gadd to update him on the situation.

"I see..." Gadd pondered after hearing the whole story, "Well, since the Shadow disguise is out, Sonic and Amy should use their speed to reach the room the Beanstar is being held in and make off with it before anyone notices."

"Heh, heh... No prob!" Sonic replied confidently, "I can be in and out of there in a Sonic second!"

"And I can just continue my part of the plan like normal, right?" Mario asked.

"Yep," Gadd responded, "and security should be a little lower now too. Tails called in and said he saw Bowser and Eggman leave the base a little while ago."

"Did he have any idea where they were going?"

"Not really, but my guess is that, since the Beanstar was asleep again when it was stolen, they're probably heading back here to kidnap the princess!"

"Peach? You have to get her out of there!"

"Don't worry, we already did. In fact, Luigi came up with a plan on how to trick them if they _are_, indeed, after Peach's voice."

"Oh, boy... Is he gonna do that 'Princess Luigi' stunt again?"

"PRINCESS LUIGI?" Sonic and Amy repeated in utter confusion.

"Don't ask," Mario mumbled, "it's better if you don't know..."

"No, no, he isn't doing _that_," Gadd assured, "Actually, he came up with the plan so he _wouldn't_ have to do that again! At any rate, it isn't something you guys have to be concerned with. You've got enough things to worry about as is! Just get the Beanstar and free the Beanbean citizens! E. Gadd, over and out!"

Mario turned the Gameboy Horror off and put it back in his pocket before looking back at Sonic and Amy.

"Ok guys, we know what we have to do! Let's-a go!"

And so, the three headed off to do their separate tasks. However, none of them were aware that there was another person in the vault. It was the same character that had quietly watched Sonic and Amy's ordeal with Scratch and Grounder, and he was now watching the three set off, as well as observing the whole room in general.

"The Doctor has no right to create these clones," the creature mused, "it is such an insult to the value of life... To simply replace one when another dies... I should know... They're based on _me_."


	47. Hastle in the Castle

Bowser and Eggman didn't resort to knocking before they entered Beanbean Castle: they just blasted the doors down. Once inside, Bowser climbed out of his Koopa Clown Car and Eggman got out of his Eggmobile. Looking around, however, they discovered that the castle was seemingly empty.

"Huh?" Bowser snorted, "What happened? Where is everyone? Don't tell me they all ran away!"

"They probably all hid when they saw us coming," Eggman explained as he grabbed a cartoon-ish looking gun out from the Eggmobile, "We just have to find them."

"So, we're just gonna leave our rides here?" Bowser asked, "Anyone with an IQ higher than their shoe size would try to sabotage them while we're hunting down hostages!"

"Do you really think I would not plan ahead for that?" Eggman rhetorically asked.

After saying this, he pulled out a tiny remote and pressed a button on it. Suddenly, four Egg Pawns teleported into the room and immediately began to guard the vehicles.

"Even if they are lousy fighters," Eggman explained, "They will at least be able to report to us if someone tries to steal our hovercrafts!"

"Oh, yeah! And then we can head back here and punish those losers!" Bowser exclaimed, "Well, enough of that, let's go get the Princess!"

Bowser and Eggman headed off, leaving the Egg Pawns to watch for intruders. Once they entered the Throne Room, they both started hearing Peach's voice. The only problem: It was coming from two opposite directions!

"Hmm..." Eggman mused, "Obviously, at least one of those voices is a recording..."

"... Obviously," Bowser repeated with a hint of sarcasm.

"The best course of action would be to split up. I'll go this way, you go that way." Eggman plotted, pointing in the corresponding directions.

Bowser nodded in agreement, and the two villains split up. The oversized turtle walked down a side hallway, following the voice, until he reached the room it was coming from. Upon entering, Bowser noticed that the only thing in the room was a small table at the far end that had two objects on top: A record player that was playing Peach's voice, and a vase with flowers in it.

"Looks like I got the dud," Bowser mumbled in defeat, "But what's with these flowers?"

The Koopa King picked up the vase of flowers and looked at a label on the side: "From a Charming Friend."

"A 'Charming' friend? What the heck does tha--- YEOW!"

Bowser leaped into the air while grabbing onto tail in pain.  
When he reached the ground again, he whirled around and saw Charmy fluttering right behind him, his stinger armed and ready!

"What the?... Why, you stupid little insect! I'm gonna squash you like the bug you are!"

"Whannabet?" Charmy said really fast, "Wellguesswhat?LuigiconvincedVectortoletmeusemysecretweapon...SUGAR!"

Before Bowser could react, he suddenly found himself suffering the wrath of a bee on a sugar high.

* * *

When Eggman heard the one voice of Peach get replaced by Bowser's screams of pain, he immediately picked up the pace.

"Bowser must have found the fake voice." Eggman thought to himself out loud, "That must mean I'm following the real voice! And since that behemoth's screaming is a big tip off that he fell for it, I bet they have their guard down now!"

Not having any inclination to help Bowser, Eggman drew his gun and busted into the room he thought Peach was hiding in, which happened to be the armory. However, he quickly discovered that there was a record player in that room _also_!

"Huh? Impossible! They're both fake?"

"But of course, you madman!"

Eggman looked up and saw Prince Peasley descending on his flying cushion! The doctor tried to fire his gun, but Peasley quickly drew his rapier and swatted the gun out of his hands. The weapon slid across the floor and was lost under a low table.

"Don't even think about it!" Peasley declared, tossing his hair back and causing a bright light to shine again, "You've roboticized the citizens of this kingdom, you used me to help you steal the Beanstar, and you are now attempting to kidnap Princess Peach Toadstool of the Mushroom Kingdom. Your madness ends now!"

Thinking quickly, Eggman eyed a sword that was being held by a suit of armor. He grabbed it and pulled it free in time to use it to block a blow from Peasley.

"I wouldn't count on it, bean boy!" Eggman sneered, "Just because I use technology to my advantage doesn't mean I'm not good at swordplay!"

Eggman and Peasley stared at each other straight in the eyes for a moment before the two of them engaged in battle.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the main entrance, the Egg Pawns were continuing their duty of guarding the vehicles. However, behind one of the columns, Luigi was lying in wait.

"Okie-dokie..." Luigi whispered in a barley audible tone, "Let's do this."

Carefully, Luigi began to sneak out from behind his hiding place and tip-toed behind the Egg Pawns towards the Koopa Clown Car. Suddenly, one of the robots turned around and looked Luigi straight in the eye!

"SOUND DETECTED. NOW SEARCHING FOR SOURCE OF NOICE..." the robot hummed loudly.

It looked straight at Luigi, but, from its point of view, it could see nothing, so it simply turned back around like nothing happened. Luigi then continued until he was behind the cover of Bowser's vehicle and breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"Whew... That was a close one..." Luigi mumbled, again, scarcely audible, "Thanks, for the help, Espio."

The space next to Luigi shimmered for a moment before Espio suddenly appeared out of thin air.

"No problem, Luigi," Espio replied, "Although, to be honest, I never thought about using my camouflage to hide someone else before."

"Well, you better go get Charmy and Peasley and check up on the others back in Little Fungitown. I can take it from here."

"Are you _sure_ you know how to drive this thing?" Espio asked, pointing to the Koopa Clown Car.

"Well... Not exactly..." Luigi admitted as he climbed in undetected, "But this is Bowser we're talking about, not Eggman! All he probably has is a steering wheel and a clutch stick!"

Unfortunately, Luigi didn't take into account the fact that Eggman had taken the opportunity of upgrading Bowser's ride. Now, there was dozens of little flashing buttons on a dashboard inside the vehicle! On the plus side, the 'Start Engine' button was labeled rather blatantly.

"Okay... Let's-a go!" Luigi called out, pressing the button.

The engine roared to live with such vigor, Luigi got startled and fell over the side! Fortunately, he was able to grab onto the edge and hold on while the vehicle lunged forward. Even more fortunate was the fact that it took out all four Egg Pawns in the process! Eventually, Luigi was able to pull himself back into the Koopa Clown Car and gain control over the steering wheel without crashing into anything, so he drove it out the gaping hole Eggman left in the castle and tried his best to fly it back to Joke's End. Espio, after shaking his head in response to Luigi's serendipity, turned invisible again and began to look for Charmy and Peasley.

* * *

Peasley's swordfight with Eggman was not turning out well. The doctor hadn't bested the prince when it came to direct swordplay, but his cheating skills were second to none. He had spent most of the fight grabbing other weapons or pieces of armor and throwing them at Peasley to cripple him. Although this was dirty, Eggman didn't care: It had allowed him to get Peasley in a corner with nowhere to run.

"It looks like you have been defeated," Eggman sneered, holding his sword to Peasley's throat, "It will be entertaining to watch you be roboticized... again."

"I would never allow you to do that," Peasley retorted, beginning to point his own sword at himself, "I would rather die than become your pawn again."

"Either way, at least you won't be a thorn in my side anymore."

However, before either one of them could make a move, the doors swung open and Bowser came charging in, all covered in welts.

"Gag!... Yo, Eggy! We gotta get outta here!" Bowser yelled, "This castle has a nasty bee infestation!"

"Bee?" Eggman asked, turning his attention away from Peasley, "That must be Charmy! That pesky insect attacked me once before for not paying the Chaotix for their services!"

"Was he on a flippin' sugar high when he attacked _you_?"

"No, and looking at you, I guess I should be fortunate that he wasn't... But if you'll excuse me, I have a bean to squash!"

Eggman turned his attention back to Peasley only to discover that he wasn't there!

"What the?... Impossible! There is no way he could have..."

The doctor was cut short when he felt something invisible kick him hard in the shins!

"GAK! It's Espio! That chameleon can turn himself invisible! Bowser, stop him!"

"Don't look at me! I can't see... YEOW!"

Bowser immediately grabbed his left foot and started hopping up and down in pain.

"Grr... No fair! That bum stomped on my foot! I can't fight what I can't see!"

Suddenly, the door to the armory slammed shut. When Bowser tried to open it, he discovered it was locked.

"Alright! That's it!" Bowser roared, banging on the door, "If I ever get my hands on that stupid chameleon, I'm gonna beat him to death with his own horn!"

On the other side of the door, Espio made himself visible again and looked over at Prince Peasley, who was standing right next to him.

"I commend your strong sense of nobility," Espio mumbled, "But you must understand that Eggman doesn't have a fiber of honor in his body."

"So I see..." Peasley replied, putting his sword away, "I never liked foes who lacked honor... Thank the stars you came in time, though! Using your invisibility to hide me by simply standing in front of me... Pure genius!"

"Actually, Luigi was the one who came up with that idea."

"Luigi, you say? That man never ceases to amaze me! But now's not the time to talk," Peasley remarked, pointing at the armory door, which seemed to be bulking under the force of Bowser's punches, "If we wait around here any longer, that hulking brute will knock the door down! We must find that Charmy fellow and get out of here!"

Right as Peasley finished his statement, Charmy came fluttering around the corner, obviously tired.

"Pant... wheeze..." Charmy gasped, "Ran... out... of... sugar... can't... stay... awake..."

He suddenly dropped to the ground and started snoozing quietly.

"Looks like we found him," Espio flatly stated.

"Right, at any rate, we better hurry out of here at once!" Peasley declared, doing another 'hair-flash', "I know a secret exit out of the castle. Follow me!"

Espio picked up the sleeping Charmy and obliged. Only moments later the armory door was reduced to splinters, and a very mad Bowser came storming out.

"Grr... Those punks got away!" Bowser roared, "And Peach was probably no where near here in the first place!"

"I am getting the same impression, as well," Eggman agreed, "I suggest we head back to the base and reformulate our plans."

"Yeah... and get some bee sting medicine for what that stupid bug did to me."

However, as the two of them returned to the entrance, they discovered that only the Eggmobile was still there!

"HEY! SOMEONE STOLE MY RIDE!" Bowser yelled at the top of his lungs, "HOW THE HECK AM I SUPPOSED TO GET BACK WITHOUT MY KOOPA CLOWN CAR?"

Bowser's question never got answered as Eggman's cell phone started ringing. Embarrassingly enough (for Eggman, anyway), the ring-tone was none other that the doctor himself singing!

_I am the biggest villain in town... I am a genius, and I have proof... I am the mighty, mighty Robotnik..._

"Is that _you_ singing?" Bowser asked, suddenly changing from being enraged to being on the verge of laughing his head off.

"Erm..." Eggman muttered, his face turning red with embarrassment, "No! Not at all! It's just... uh..."

Rather than replying, he simply fumbled through his pockets for his cell phone before eventually finding it and quickly answering it.

"Scratch! What did I tell you about calling me on my cell phone in public?" Eggman hissed into the receiver.

"Sorry, your rottenness!" Scratch apologized, "But this is important! Sonic and Amy are in the factory!"

"WHAT?"

"Well, I was monitoring surveillance footage in the security room like you asked me to do while you were out---"

"Nuh-uh! You were sleeping!" Another voice disagreed, "_I _was the one watching the video!"

"Shut up, Grounder!" Scratch shouted back, "I'm the one using the phone right now!"

"But it's _my_ phone! Dr. Robotnik put it in _my_ belly!"

"But Robotnik likes me more!"

"Does not!"

"Does too!"

"Does not!"

"Does too!"

"Shut up, you two buckets of bolts!" Eggman demanded, "Now, tell me what you meant when you said that Sonic and that pink girl were there!"

"As I was saying before I was interrupted," Scratch continued, "_I_ was watching over the factory when the security systems detected two life forms moving at a high speed: one blue, one pink! It _has_ to be Sonic and Amy!"

Eggman paused for a moment to plan out his actions. He was in no shape to fight the hedgehogs head-on, and even if he was, he and Bowser were too far away to get back to the base in time to stop them, especially now that there was only one hovercraft. That was when an idea popped into Eggman's mind. It was very risky, but he had no choice.

"You need to pull out all the stops on them!" Eggman commanded, "I want you to activate all the robots, put the Mean Bean Steaming Machine in double-time, and..." he paused for a moment, thinking over his final request one last time, "I want you to roboticize Fawful."

Author's Note: Oops. I went and overshot my goal of one update per month. I have a bad habit of _starting_ a chapter really close to my "due date" and not taking into account that it takes _time_ to actually write it! I'll try to do better next time. On the plus side, I now have 150 reviews! Sweet! Thanks for all your support so far!


	48. The Fall of Fawful

Sonic and Amy eventually reached the control room of the base and sure enough, the Beanstar was in the center of the chamber, ready to be taken.

"Well, that was easy!" Amy declared, "Let's go get it, Sonic!"

"Hold on..." Sonic interrupted, "There's probably a trap... Not that it could catch me!"

The hedgehog then proceeded to run around the room a few times at high velocity. When he was finished, three trapdoors were swinging open, four giant crushers had fallen, and ten clusters of spikes had shot up, but Sonic was completely unharmed.

"Heh, heh... Ol' Eggbutt should try making his traps a tad faster. I hardly broke a sweat on those!"

Confident that they had de-rigged every trap, the two hedgehogs approached the Beanstar. However, just as they were about to grab it, they heard a very robotic, but very familiar voice.

"Ha ha ha! It's the two of the endless numberness of fink-rats whom I hate! I have returned, but now with more of the powerfulness required to squash the bugs that are you! I HAVE MECHA FURY!"

* * *

After a little while of searching, Mario found himself on a catwalk overhanging the room that contained the Mean Bean Steaming Machine. Looking down, he could see that Scratch was overlooking the contraption, making sure everything was in working order. Fortunately, it appeared that no Beanbean citizens were currently being fed through the device, so destroying the machine outright wouldn't harm anyone... Except maybe Scratch, but Mario wasn't too concerned about that. Reaching into his pocked, the plumber pulled out something he had been saving for this moment: A bob-omb. He lit the fuse and was about to throw the explosive right at the machine when... 

"Hey! What are you doing here?"

Mario looked up and saw Grounder standing right in front of him!

"Um... Uh..." Mario stumbled, trying to come up with an idea. Suddenly remembering how stupid the two robots were, he simply handed the bob-omb to Grounder, "Here! Merry Christmas!"

"Oh? For me?" Grounder asked in all sincerity, grabbing the bomb, "Why, thank you! It's just what I always..."

Not surprisingly, the bob-omb exploded right in his face, causing him to fall apart... literally.

"Boy, Sonic was right..." Mario mumbled, "You really _are_ a few coins short of a 1-Up."

Mario leaped over the side of the catwalk and ran towards the giant on/off lever for the Mean Bean Steaming Machine sticking out of the ground. Unfortunately, Grounder was able to warn Scratch, despite the fact that it was missing from his body.

"Hey, Scratch!" Grounder's head called out, "That annoying plumber guy is trying to stop the Mean Bean Steaming Machine!"

"Huh?" Scratch muttered as he turned and saw Mario turning the machine off, "Hey! What are you doing over there?"

The giant chicken ran over to the lever and quickly pulled it back into the 'On' position.

"You can't go around interfering with the Doctor's plans!" Scratch demanded, "His Rotundness would be most displeased with that!"

"Yeah!" Grounder agreed, "Just like how he'll be displeased with the fact that you blew me up!"

"Oh... Quit whining and pull yourself together!" Scratch snapped back.

"Well, I don't care what 'Your Rotundness' thinks," Mario replied, pulling the lever into the 'Off' position again, "Turning all these citizens into robots is wrong! This machine is staying off!"

"No way! It's staying on!" Scratch retorted, turning it back on.

"Off!" Mario shouted, turning it off again.

"On!" Scratch yelled, turning it on again.

"Off!"

"On!"

"On!" Mario hollered, winking to no one in particular.

"Off!"

"On!"

"I say off," screamed Scratch, "and that's final!"

To prove his point, Scratch also pulled the lever right out of the ground, making it impossible for anyone to change it again.

"Alright," Mario said calmly, walking off, "You win."

"Ha ha ha!" Scratch laughed in his usual, annoying way, "Yeah! That's right! Run away! This machine is staying off no matter what!... Wait a second... OFF?"

Scratch immediately looked back at the now broken switch and realized he fell for one of the oldest tricks in the book.

"Hey! That stupid plumber tricked me! When I get my hands on him, I'll... Where'd he go?"

He surveyed the area to no avail; Mario had made his escape rather easily.

"WAH! He got away! Grounder, let's go after him!"

"Hold on!" Grounder protested, "I still have to find my other tread!"

* * *

Sonic and Amy looked up at Mecha Fawful. Apparently, he was fed through the Mean Bean Steaming Machine with his headgear on; as the headgear's hovering abilities were clearly still intact. Also, the nozzle that had previously launched out the green electro-balls now looked more like a gatling gun, complete with a ridiculously long chain of bullets dangling at his side. 

"So, ol' Eggy decided to turn you into one of his robo-goons, huh?" Sonic snickered, "Seems like that still didn't help your horrible English!"

"Speak to me, do not, of the man of egg!" Fawful retorted, "For once the fink-rats of you are nothing more than dead bugs under the table where I shall eat my sundae of revenge, I shall destroy that fink-rat of foolishness! Only one of an intelligence of a Pokey on Cold Cold Mountain would ever ponder the thoughtingness of stabbing the back that is mine!"

"Of course, you forgot one little detail..." Sonic replied, a cocky grin appearing on his face, "_I'll_ never go down as easily as Egg-Butt does! Bring it on, beanie!"

After saying this, he curled up and began to spin-dash into Fawful. The newly roboticized bean retaliated by firing his gatling gun at the blue rodent. However, having learned from his previous encounter, Sonic simply curved around the shots, and he began to spin around Fawful, causing a blue whirlwind to materialize.

"IEE!" Shrieked Fawful, "My stomach is like a blender that is mixing stuff of the disgustingness! Stop the madness of this at once!"

"Sorry, pal!" Sonic answered, "But ya know me... I just can't stop! Say, are you alright? You're starting to look kinda green... er."

Fawful couldn't take the spinning nor the insults any longer. He put his jet-packs in full power and blasted out of the blue twister and immediately began to open-fire again. Still, Sonic's quick feet allowed him to effortlessly avoid all the projectiles and prepare for another attack. Fawful, however, realizing the main reason that Sonic must have come into the room, activated his headgear's vacuum and once again sucked up the Beanstar.

"Ha ha ha! What now, you fink-rats of unworthyness?" Fawful mocked, "If you kill me now, melting the sundae of my revenge, I shall take the cherry with me!"

Sonic snapped his fingers in defeat. Despite his odd language, Fawful was right: If he destroyed him, the Beanstar would most likely be lost in the resulting explosion!

"Aw man..." Sonic moaned, "How am I supposed to get that Beanstar if it's in his headgear?"

"We'll just have to _make_ him give it up!" Amy shouted, pulling out her Piko Piko Hammer.

"Ha ha ha! Must I be repeating this more of onceing?" Fawful laughed, "My robotic shell is the unbreakable force field that is only attempted to be damaged by the fool---"

Fawful didn't get a chance to finish before Amy knocked him for a loop with her weapon. Of course, just as he said, it didn't really damage him at all, but it still rattled him pretty good.

"Now, if you don't want to be beaten into a can of beans," Amy demanded, "You better give us back the Beanstar!"

"Ugh... Never!" Fawful replied, quickly recovering, "I will not give in to the fink-rats that are you! The only ones I have given the shameful gift of defeatingness to are the bugs that are the Mario Bros.!"

"You rang?" came a voice from behind Fawful. Whirling around, the bean saw one of only two people he feared: Mario! And he wasn't alone. Mario had a few Beanbean solders backing him up, presumably ones he freed from captivity.

"IEE! IT'S THE BROTHER OF RED-CAPPEDNESS WHOM I HATE!" Fawful screamed.

"Hello again, Fawful," Mario greeted, "It looks like your 'sundae of revenge' is just about over, pal!"

"Do not be of fasting!" retorted Fawful, "For only one brother whom I hate is here! You have not the green fink-rat with you!"

Almost as if on cue, the whole room began to shake. Suddenly, the side wall blew open, and Luigi came tumbling head-over-heels into the room!

"Whoa! Luigi?" Mario sputtered, just as stunned as everyone else, "How did _you_ get in here?"

"Ugh... Momma-mia!" Luigi mumbled, slightly dazed, "I hijacked Bowser's vehicle when he tried to kidnap Peach and drove it here to help you... And I just crash-landed it through five titanium walls! What an experience!"

Eventually, Luigi shook the stars out of his head and walked up next to his brother. Both of them pulled out their hammers and pointed them at Fawful.

"Gulp... Uh-oh..." Fawful muttered, "I think now is my time of fleeing..."

"GET HIM!" Mario shouted at the top of his lungs.

Everyone, Mario, Luigi, Sonic, Amy, and all the Beanbean solders, pig-piled on top of Fawful. After the huge fight cloud settled, Sonic and Amy had pined down Fawful's arms while a couple of solders got his legs.

"Well now..." Mario began, looking at Luigi, "Why don't you try that Thunderpalm hammer Tails gave you?"

"You got it, bro.!"

Luigi charged up his Thunderpalm and watched as an electrical discharge shot out of his hammer and struck Fawful right on his headgear. The voltage caused the glass casing to shatter, freeing the Beanstar, which Sonic quickly grabbed.

"Heh, heh... Score one for the good guys!" Sonic declared, tossing the star into the air and catching it again.

The electrical current continued to pulse through Fawful's robotic covering for a few more seconds before a small explosion blew it off, revealing a very fried bean.

"Uhh... You are... not of fairness..." Fawful muttered before passing out.

"Okie-dokie then," Mario started, addressing the Beanbean solders, "thanks for all the help, guys. Now, you remember where that warp pipe was that Gadd set up, right?"

They all nodded.

"Good. Take Fawful here and go back to it and get out of here. I'm sure Queen Bean will be pleased to have Fawful back where he belongs: behind bars."

The solders complied and carried the unconscious fugitive away, leaving only Mario, Luigi, Sonic, and Amy in the room. Meanwhile, Mario took the Beanstar from Sonic and looked at it.

"Sure glad to have this thing back in good hands. It's a shame we didn't get an Emerald Star out of all this, though... Oh well, at least everything turned out okay, huh?"

The other three shook their heads in agreement happily. However, they suddenly stopped and looked _very_ worriedly at Mario.

"Hey... Uh... Bro..." Luigi shuttered.

"Huh? Oh no... There's something **bad** behind me, isn't there?" Mario asked.

"Yep." Sonic answered.

Mario turned around and saw a very big and very angry looking robot. It was mostly green and black, and was made up of mostly cylinder-shaped parts, with two giant claws as hands.

"Not you again!" Amy squealed, "Everybody run! It's Zero!"


	49. Hero vs Zero

"Hey! Move over, will ya?"

"ME? _You're_ the one who should be moving over! Your tail keeps digging into my backside!"

"That's not _my_ fault! I'm the King of the Koopas! I'm _supposed_ to be huge and threatening! _You_, on the other hand, are just plain fat! No wonder Sonic calls you Eggman!"

"Grr... If you weren't my ally, I'd have you roboticized in a second!"

At the moment, Bowser and Eggman were trying to return to the Joke's End base... in only one vehicle. The Eggmobile was already much too small for Bowser alone, so both villains trying to squeeze into it was nearly impossible, but somehow, they managed, albeit quite uncomfortably.

"Oh... Quit whining! We're almost there anyway!" Bowser snorted, "... Fatty."

"FATTY? Why, I'll have you know---"

Before Eggman could finish his sentence, however, his cell phone started ringing again. This time, he was able to pull it out and answer it before the embarrassing lyrics started playing.

"What is it this time, Scratch?" Eggman asked.

"We've got an even BIGGER problem now, your Egg-Shapedness!" Scratch responded, "Mario is also in the factory, and he broke the Mean Bean Steaming Machine!"

"I thought _you_ were the one who broke it..." Grounder could be heard saying in the distance.

"Quiet, you!" Scratch shouted, "... Uh... Anyway... Not only that, but he also joined up with Sonic, Amy, and... what was that green guy's name again?"

"Um... I don't know..." Grounder mumbled, "Louie?... Lugia?"

"Would you just get on with it?" Eggman demanded.

"Of course, your vileness..." Scratch continued, "... As I was saying, Sonic, Amy, Mario, and that other guy defeated Mecha-Fawful and got the Beanstar!"

"WHAT?" Bowser roared, overhearing the conversation, "Can't those two do anything right? For a mad scientist, you sure make lousy robots!"

Eggman ignored Bowser's remark and continued talking into the receiver.

"Listen, you two worthless buckets of bolts! Start sending out robots to stop those four NOW!"

"Don't worry, your evilness!" Scratch assured, "We already activated Zero.v.2.0! It should already be confronting them as we speak!"

"Good!" Eggman replied, an evil grin forming on his mouth, "Those fools will really be in for a 'shock' if they try that same trick on _this_ version of Zero..."

* * *

Mario backed slowly away from the advancing Zero. The robot's claws opened and closed in a threatening manner, and even swung at Mario a couple of times. Fortunately, the plumber simply sidestepped the swinging claws and avoided contact completely.

"Hey, uh, Sonic..." Mario whispered, "Any hints on how to beat this thing?"

"Amy said something about whacking it into an electric fence," Sonic quipped, "But I definitely don't see one around here."

"It doesn't like electric, you say?" Luigi began, pulling out his hammer, "Well, when you put it that way... Step aside Mario! I _know_ I can handle this!"

Mario obliged, and Luigi charged at Zero. Starting up his Thunderpalm and letting the current flow into his hammer, Luigi took a mighty swing at Zero. However, much to everyone's surprise, the robot wasn't affected at all! Instead, it appeared that the electricity was all being directed into its claw. Then, Zero smacked Luigi with its claw, causing _Luigi_ to be the one who was getting electrocuted! The attack sent him tumbling head-over-heels back towards the rest of the group.

"Ugh..." Luigi muttered, "Figures the one time I _think_ I can handle something, I screw it up royally..."

"But that doesn't make any sense!" Amy protested, "That robot never channeled the electricity like that! It's just supposed to fry itself!"

"Eggman must've rewired it so it could handle the extra voltage!" Sonic explained, "Dang it! Now what?"

"I've got a good idea..." Mario replied, watching the robot come even closer, "... RUN!"

The group didn't need any more of an explanation. The brothers and the hedgehogs took off through one of the doorways, with Zero in hot pursuit. Unfortunately, Zero apparently also upgraded its motor, has it was able to keep up and almost grab the Mario Bros. on a couple of occasions. Desperate to pick up the pace, Sonic grabbed the brothers by their arms and began to pull them as he ran while Amy ran beside him. However, he quickly discovered that two Italian plumbers weighed him down a lot more than he originally thought, and Amy certainly wasn't strong enough to pull one of them by herself.

"This isn't working!" Mario shouted, "Sonic, can you run faster if only Luigi was hanging on?"

"Of course! Why?"

Mario didn't reply. Instead, he let go of Sonic's arm, quickly tossed the Beanstar to the hedgehog, and dropped to the ground, letting Zero pass harmlessly over him. Sonic didn't need an explanation: Mario was going to let Zero continue to chase after Sonic and Amy (and Luigi), who could easily out-run him without Mario slowing them down, while he found another way out. Unfortunately, as Sonic ran on ahead, Zero began to compute to itself.

**OddsOf Sonic + Amy + unknown2 Capture - Low;**

**OddsOf unknown1 Capture - High;**

**CourseOfAction - Capture unknown1 Begin;**

Zero immediately did an about face and began to chase after Mario again, much to the plumber's dismay. While this certainly guaranteed Sonic, Luigi, and Amy's safety, it left Mario in a really tight spot. With no better options, Mario began running in the opposite direction, once again narrowly avoiding Zero's claws when need be. However, Zero was clearly gaining ground on him, and it wouldn't be long before it caught up with him. Fortunately, Mario eyed a door off to the side of the corridor. He dived in and, spying a keypad on the wall next to the entrance, smashed it with his hammer, sealing the metal door shut. Tragically, the room beyond was a dead end: a catwalk went out a ways before simply stopping, with nothing beyond except a few power generators a bit further out and no visible floor below. Even worse, the door wouldn't hold back Zero long, though, as one could already hear him banging on it, trying to bring it down.

"Ok..." Mario thought out loud, "Gotta think of something... Nowhere to run or hide..."

Suddenly, Mario noticed that a magnetic crane was hanging out over the end of the catwalk, with the control pad hung conveniently on the railing nearby.

"Bingo! That could work..."

Before he could get much time to react, the door blew open, and in stormed Zero. The robot immediately detected Mario standing at the very end of the catwalk, both hands behind his back. It was going to open fire when the plumber suddenly called out.

"Ok! Fine! You win! I surrender!"

The android, despite all of the computers in its head, was puzzled by Mario's sudden yielding.

"Really, I mean it! I'll go willingly! To the roboticizer, even! Just _shoot your claw out and grab me_..."

Despite the strange tone in Mario's last line, Zero decided it was best to capture him regardless of the oddity of the situation. It did just as Mario requested and shot out one of his claws in an attempt to snag the plumber. However, at the last moment, Mario leaned backwards and fell off the end of the catwalk, causing the claw to pass harmlessly overhead! Rather than falling to his demise, though, Mario was holding onto the crane's controls that he had hidden behind his back and, by having the wire wrapped around the railing a couple of times, used it to dangle out of reach of Zero's grasp. Furthermore, Mario pounded one of the buttons on the pad, turning on the magnetic crane. Since Zero's claw had shot out under the crane, the magnet immediately pulled his claw up to it, as well as the rest of him! Ironically enough, the magnet was strong enough to pull Mario up a bit as well, since he had metal buttons on his overalls. Thankfully, he was able to get back on the catwalk and away from the magnet's pull with little effort.

"Heh, heh... I see you have a bit of an _attraction_ to that magnet..." Mario snickered, "Well, I suppose I could leave you hanging there, but..."

Mario eyed the power generators at the far side of the room and got an idea. He moved the crane, and Zero with it, towards the generators and slammed the robot into them like a wrecking ball. The resulting light show was spectacular: electricity pulsed through Zero like he was a string of Christmas lights.

"Regardless of _how_ Eggman rewired you, that electricity is too much for _any_ robot!"

Feeling that he did enough damage, Mario moved the crane back towards the catwalk and dumped Zero right in front of him. Pulling out his hammer, Mario kicked the top of Zero's head off and was about to give the finishing blow to his insides when, suddenly, a small video monitor popped out of the robot's head. It quickly turned on and displayed a logo-esque image of Eggman's face, before addressing Mario.

"Congratulations on defeating the Zero android. By doing so, you have activated its built-in, Eggman-patented, electromagnetic pulse detonator. If you want to live, I suggest that you start running as fast as possible and pray that you are at least a mile away from any electronic device before it goes off in... Oh, let's say five minutes. Thank you, and have a nice day."

The recording barely got to 'thank you' before Mario began running out of the room screaming. Since the base was loaded with 'electronic devices', if he didn't get out in five minutes, he was most certainly a dead man.

* * *

"Curses!" Eggman shouted, banging his fist against the dashboard of his Eggmobile, "I didn't expect Zero to be destroyed in _my_ base! Curse that plumber!"

The two villains were watching what was happening inside the base on a monitor inside Eggman's vehicle, and needless to say, Eggman wasn't at all pleased that Mario beat Zero.

"What?" Bowser grumbled, "You really thought he would be defeated by some wimpy robot? And what on earth is an electromagnetic... whatchamacallit?"

"The electromagnetic pulse detonator," Eggman explained, "Is a sort of self-destruct mechanism I installed in Zero... with a kick. Instead of just causing _it_ to blow up, it sends an electronic pulse about a mile in diameter all around it. When comes in contact with anything that uses electricity, the pulse overcharges it so much, it will blow up violently! I originally planed it so that if Sonic beat Zero in a heavily populated area, it would still destroy everything in sight because of the detonator, but I wasn't expecting it to be used against me!"

"So now what? I hope you aren't planning on still driving this thing towards that deathtrap."

"Of course not!" Eggman retorted. He pulled out his cell phone again and immediately began talking into it. "Scratch! Grounder! Listen up!"

"Yikes! It wasn't our fault, your nastiness!" Scratch could be heard protesting at the other end, "It was that lousy Zero's fault that everyone escaped!"

"Never mind that! When Zero self-destructs, its going to take out everything with wires in a mile vicinity, including you two!"

"Oh no! That's bad, right?"

Eggman smacked himself in the forehead before continuing.

"Yes, of course it's bad! Listen, you two must load up the Egg Carrier with all the equipment you can!"

"But I just finished unloading everything!" Grounder protested.

"I don't care! Get everything back on board and get out of there in five minutes! As for Mario... Send a bunch of Yoshitrons to take care of him."

"But why? Aren't they a little too valuable to risk having them... you know... blow up?"

"Those yoshi things seem to spawn like flies, so, ahem, 'sacrificing' a few won't be that big a deal. Besides, I want to see what Mario chooses: his life, or the yoshis'."

Author's Note: Talk about cutting it close... Wait... (looks at last update date) My last update was on the FOURTH? Dang... Off by a day. And all this time I thought I made it... Oh well. At any rate, I got over 10,000 hits now! Yahoo! My story's really popular! Also, I'm going to be going on vacation pretty soon, so if my next update is a little over the one month limit, I'll actually have a reasonable excuse... See ya when I get back!


	50. The Next Evil Plot

Mario ran as fast as his legs could carry him down the endless corridors of Eggman's factory. Try as he might, though, he could never seem to figure out where he was going in the labyrinth of passageways.

"Dang it..." Mario mumbled to himself, "I knew I should've paid more attention to where I was going when I was running from Zero..."

Suddenly, Mario saw something at the very far end of the hallway: light! He could see the exit! Unfortunately, right as he was about to head towards it, six Yoshitrons dropped down from the ceiling and formed a perimeter around the plumber. They appeared to be a different model version than before, however. Instead of a bazooka, these roboticized yoshis had machine guns on their arms.

"Uh, oh..." Mario muttered, looking at his watch, which had a tiny Link inside with his sword and shield as the minute and hour hands, "I don't have time for this. I've only got three minutes before this whole place goes 'boom'!"

Obviously, the Yoshitrons didn't care, and quickly began to open fire on Mario. Fortunately, he was able to jump out of the way in the nick of time. Drawing his hammer, Mario began to leap from robot to robot, striking each of them over the head with his weapon. When he was finished exchanging blows with them, Mario was flat-out exhausted, but the Yoshitrons were a different matter.

"DAMMAGE REPORT:" all the Yoshitrons began computing out loud, "SHIELDS REDUCED TO 99.98 OF MAXIMUM PROTECTION. RESTORING SHIELDS NOW... SHIELDS RESTORED TO 100."

"You've got to be kidding me..." Mario groaned, "I **really** got to find a better weapon..."

Looking back at his watch, Mario noticed that he now had only two minutes to reach get out of the facility, and the exit was in sight! He just had to get past the Yoshitrons! Unfortunately, that seemed like an impossible feat, and even if he did get by them, when the base blew up, the innocent yoshis trapped inside would go too! Mario began to panic as he looked over his very limited set of options, none of them with very positive results.

The Yoshitrons, on the other hand, decided to choose for him. They all pointed their machine guns at Mario and prepared to open fire...

* * *

Outside the base, Tails saw Sonic, and Amy running, with Luigi in tow, towards the edge of the island Joke's End was on. Tails quickly lowered the Cyclone to let the three of them on. Amy climbed into the back seat, Luigi grabbed onto the handlebars in the back, and Sonic leaped onto the top of the wings. They were about to fly off when Luigi stopped them. 

"Wait! We've got to wait for Mario!" Luigi protested.

"We don't have much time!" Tails replied, "My scanners indicate that there's a bomb in there that will cause anything that runs on electricity to explode, including the Cyclone! I can wait only a couple of minutes, but then we have to leave, or else we'll _all_ blow up!"

Luigi just looked back at the entrance of the base, praying that Mario would be running out of there at any moment.

_Come on, Mario..._ Luigi thought, _You gotta get out of there...

* * *

_

When Mario heard the gunshots, he thought he was certainly done for. However, when he opened his eyes, he discovered that all the Yoshitrons had been shot at instead! Now, their robotic shells were exploding, releasing the dazed but otherwise alright yoshis inside!

"What the?... Who could've done that?" Mario wondered out loud, "... Who ever that was, thank you... In the meantime, I've got to make my escape! Now!"

Mario quickly eyed the most conscious yoshi, a yellow one, and jumped on his back.

"Ok, little fella, think you can make it to the exit in under..." Mario glanced at his watch again, "... THIRTY SECONDS? Ride, yoshi ride!"

The yellow yoshi, as well as all the others, immediately complied, giving it their all to race for the exit. Unfortunately, the bomb was already beginning to affect the factory, as pipes overhead began to shake and explode! Even worse, right in front of the exit, a huge pipe fell and completely blocked their escape!

_NO!_ Mario mentally screamed, _Not now! Not when we're this close..._

Just when things couldn't get any worse for the plumber and the dinosaurs, Mario saw something running straight at them! Upon closer inspection, Mario realized that it looked like Shadow!

"Oh great! The last thing I need is another encounter with a stupid Shadow android... Huh?"

He suddenly noticed something different about this Shadow: it was holding a gun... as well as one of the Emerald Stars! Before Mario could react, the hedgehog tossed the Emerald Star into the air.

"CHAOS..." the black hedgehog began before grabbing the star again, "CONTROL!"

A bright light shone from the Emerald Star that quickly engulfed Mario and the yoshis... only moments before the bomb's explosion engulfed the whole factory.

* * *

"I can't wait any longer!" Tails shouted, "We have to leave the area NOW!" 

"But we can't leave Mario behind!" Luigi begged, as the plane began to take off, "He's my brother!"

"It's either one of him or four of us!" Sonic explained.

"I'M NOT LEAVING WITHOUT HIM!"

Amy practically had to hold Luigi down (a hard feat, since she was sitting and he was standing) as the Cyclone flew away from the base just as it exploded into a huge fireball. There was no way anyone could have survived the blast.

"Mario..." Luigi whimpered, slowly starting to cry.

* * *

"Well, I must admit that you both have impressed me," Eggman congratulated, addressing Scratch and Grounder on the bridge of the Egg Carrier, "I thought it would be impossible for you two dummies to get the Egg Carrier out of the base in under five minutes, but you managed! For that, I shall promote you both... to unnecessary!" 

"Yahoo!" Scratch cheered, "We're no longer worthless!"

"But wait a second..." Grounder moaned, "I thought I already got a promotion... Does this mean I have two promotions now?"

"Oh, can it, Grounder!" Scratch shouted, banging his robotic brother over the head, "that first one doesn't count, 'cuz Robotnik likes me more!"

"No he doesn't! He gave _me_ the extra promotion! He likes _me_ more!"

"No, he likes me more!"

"No, me!"

"Me!"

"Me!"

"Me!"

"YO! YOU TWO OVERSIZED TOASTERS! SHUT YER TRAPS OR I'LL DO IT FOR YA!" Bowser, who was also in the room and quickly losing patience, roared.

"I suggest you listen to him, you two," Eggman continued, "otherwise, I'll just let him tear you to pieces and replace you with Decoe and Bocoe!... Again..."

Almost as if on cue, the door to the bridge opened and in flew Bokkun. However, he appeared to be struggling under the weight of his messenger bag, which seemed to be exceptionally heavy.

"Ah! Bokkun! How nice of you to join us!" Eggman greeted, "So, did you deliver my message to Wario?"

"Uh, huh!" Bokkun answered, "And, I got you a bonus as well, Dr. Eggman!"

The little black messenger took his bag and shook it vigorously upside-down. Suddenly, Waluigi, who somehow managed to fit inside in the first place, came tumbling out! At this point, the effect of the sleeping gas was starting to wear off, and Waluigi quickly came to as he smacked his head against the floor.

"What the..." Waluigi moaned, "... Where am I?... YIKES! BOWSER? AND EGGMAN?... I mean, uh... gulp... Hi, guys! Long time, no see..."

"Silence, you fool!" Eggman demanded, "So, Bokkun managed to capture one of the traitors, eh?"

"Um... Correction:" Waluigi tried to explain, "I thought that you, well... you know... kinda went bye-bye after that explosion and all so I figured..."

"SHUT UP, STUPID!" Bowser growled, hoisting Waluigi up into the air by the back of his shirt, "So, Eggy, what should we do with him? Maybe we could put him on toilet parole with that monkey robot of yours..."

"I got a better idea," Eggman explained, "Since he has knowledge about Wario, we can use him to capture his brother, along with any Emerald Stars he may have, as well!"

"Heh, heh... Fat chance, fatso!" Waluigi taunted, "As much as I hate my tub of lard for a brother, I'm sure as heck not gonna tell _you_ anything!"

"You won't have much choice on the contrary anyway!" Eggman declared as a group of Egg Pawns came marching into the room, "Guards, take him to the roboticizer!"

Waluigi didn't even get a chance to react before all the Egg Pawns grabbed him and began to drag him away.

"Wait a second! Hold on! I don't wanna go in there! I don't wanna be a robot! Please! SOMEBODY HELP!"

After the robots took Waluigi off to meet his fate, Eggman dismissed Scratch, Grounder, and Bokkun (or, more specifically, Bowser told them all to "get lost") and turned his attention to more important things with Bowser.

"Well, now that that's out of the way," Eggman began, "Let's get down to business, shall we? Our venture at Joke's End didn't quite work out---"

"Good job, Captain Obvious!" Bowser cried sarcastically, "Tell me something I don't know!"

Eggman glared at Bowser, but it was pretty much unnoticeable behind his thick glasses.

"At any rate, I propose a new strategy," he continued, "With the exception of the Beanbean Kingdom, not many people here are aware of my superior intellect, correct?"

"Yeah, I guess so..." Bowser agreed, "I always thought they were all a bunch of idiots."

"Meanwhile, I am quite certain that no one on Mobius would be prepared if you came storming through and using brute force to destroy everything!"

"Heh, heh... Yep, that sounds about right! But, what's your point?"

"I say that we split up and, shall we say, do a little 'role reversal'. I will go to another part of this Mushroom Kingdom and see if I can conquer it due to their lack of technology!"

"Oh, yes, because it worked out _so_ well when you tried that in the Beanbean Kingdom..." Bowser muttered.

"Fine! You have a better idea?"

"Actually..." Bowser mused, "I think I know a group of weirdos who would be quite thrilled to have someone with your brains on their side. They go by the name of the X-Nauts or something stupid like that..."

"Hmm... Sounds intriguing..."

"Yeah... In the meantime, what do you want _me_ to do?"

"Oh, I have a grand plan for you to accomplish..." Eggman exclaimed as a screen behind him dropped down and displayed an aerial view of a city, "Due to a little... accident caused by Chaos Control, I have been separated from my utopia, Robotropolis, for quite some time. While I'm sure it is still heavily guarded by my robots, I fear that, while I have been gone, certain 'friends' of mine have been trying to tear it apart, piece by piece."

The image on the screen paned downward to show a huge forest on the outskirts of the city.

"All that I know is that these pests live in the nearby forest, but despite my best efforts, I have never revealed their hideout. I want you to go to Robotropolis and help bring it back to its former glory, as well as finally find those rebels and roboticize them!"

"And what makes you think I would want to do any of this?" Bowser grunted, obviously not impressed with the concept of only destroying a small band of woodland dwellers.

"Because," Eggman replied, "I know you are quite fond of capturing princesses..."

Author's Note: Wee (or should I say "Wii"?...)! I love summer. No school means more time to update! Anyway, if you figured out what the heck Eggman is talking about in the end here, don't panic if you're a SEGA-only fan. For starters, it won't happen for a while (Eggman's plan with the X-Nauts will happen first), and even when the plot does reach that point, I have a very handy little system that will be of great benifit for the haters, but I'll explain it when I get there. In the meantime, enjoy the impending Paper Mario storyline!


	51. Shadow's Story

Mario had never been through the experience of Chaos Control and, after barely managing to keep the contents of his stomach down as he was tumbling through a tunnel of emerald light, he certainly never wanted to do so again. Right as he was about to lose the battle with his gag reflex, Mario found himself unceremoniously dumped onto the ground, with all the yoshis quickly piling on top of him as they, too, came out of the Chaos Control. Pulling himself out from under the yoshi pig-pile, Mario got up and observed his surroundings. It appeared that he was on a grassy hill that overlooked the nearby area. In fact, he could see Beanbean Castle off in the distance! However, that wasn't what caught Mario's interest the most. Instead, he quickly turned his attention towards finding the one who had Chaos Controlled him out of the exploding base. It didn't take him long: Mario found Shadow standing a short distance away, his back facing Mario, arms folded across his chest and looking up at the sky like nothing had happened.

"Hey!" Mario called out as he approached the black hedgehog, "You're the real Shadow, right? Not one of those androids, I mean."

Shadow didn't even turn around to give his reply.

"You figured it out that quickly? At least someone knows."

"Wait... You mean that Sonic and the others don't know?" Mario inquired, stopping in his tracks, "It seems pretty obvious to me. You freed the yoshis, you saved us all from getting blown to bits, and you somehow got one of the Emerald Stars! How could they _not_ know you're the real deal?"

"They think I'm dead," Shadow replied flatly.

"Um... Well, it's pretty obvious that you're not..." Mario murmured, "Since you're right here and all..."

Shadow turned around and stared Mario straight in the eyes, which made the plumber feel a little bit uncomfortable.

"What did Sonic tell you about me?"

"Not much," Mario replied with a shrug, "just that you used to work for Eggman before having a change of heart and 'sacrificing' yourself to save the world."

"Figures..." Shadow mumbled under his breath, "The Doctor still hasn't gotten the guts to tell Sonic the truth. That coward..."

"So, uh... What's your story?" Mario asked, scratching the back of his head, "It seems pretty safe to say that Sonic's explanation isn't 100 accurate."

Shadow sighed, turned back around, and began to explain.

"The Doctor's grandfather, Gerald Robotnik, created me onboard the space colony ARK as the ultimate lifeform. His intent was to use me to better mankind. However, he couldn't do it by himself, so he instead contacted Black Doom, leader of the alien race the Black Arms, to assist him in bringing me to life. In exchange, the Professor would give Black Doom the seven Chaos Emeralds, which the Doctor somehow managed to fuse with _your_ Star Spirits..."

"Um... Yeah, about that..." Mario began, but was interrupted by Shadow continuing his story.

"What the Professor _didn't_ know was that Black Doom intended to use the Chaos Emeralds to conquer Mobius _and_, I might add, your precious little Mushroom Kingdom as well. When he found this out, he quickly began to build the Eclipse Cannon, the colony's main weapon, so he could destroy the Black Comet that the aliens lived on. Unfortunately, at this point, the government feared what the Professor was doing, and sent in the military to eliminate everything on board. In the process, they killed the Professor's granddaughter, and my closest friend, Maria..."

Shadow paused for a moment, obviously feeling a bit of emotional pain. Mario was tempted to comment on how similar his name was to hers, but he figured it was best to refrain and just let Shadow continue.

"Her death drove the Professor over the edge. Instead of wanting to help mankind, he now felt that it betrayed him, and he wanted to destroy it, just like the Black Arms. From his jail cell, he was able to reprogram the ARK so that it would fall down to earth if one was to try and fire the Eclipse Cannon with all seven emeralds in place. He was eventually executed by firing squad and I was put in status for fifty years..."

"Woah..." was all Mario could utter, "I can see why you wanted to carry out Gerald's plans when Eggman freed you."

"I guess that means Sonic told you about _that_..." Shadow replied, hardly impressed with Mario's knowledge, "When the Doctor awoke me again, I wanted to avenge Maria's death, but right before the ARK crashed, I remembered that Maria wanted me to help mankind, not hurt it. So, I aided Sonic in the final battle with a prototype ultimate lifeform known as the Biolizard, but I couldn't gather enough energy after the fight to get back onboard, so I simply let myself fall to my death... Or so I thought.

"As it turned out, the Doctor sent a robot out to save me, but he then wiped my memory and started making those infernal androids, which I'm sure you're quite familiar with. What the Doctor didn't expect, however, was that I would be rescued by Rouge the Bat and the Omega robot---"

"Wait a second..." Mario interrupted, "Did you say 'Omega'?"

"Yes, do you know him?"

"Erm..." Mario sputtered, remembering that he and Luigi had previously beaten the snot out of him earlier, "You could say that..."

"Sigh... At any rate, the three of us set out to find the Doctor, as we all wanted something from him. Before the end of our adventure, we encountered a storage chamber filled with Shadow Androids, and ever since, they all believe that I am just one of them that gained his free will. Not even when I fulfilled the Professor's original intent to destroy the Black Arms when they recently returned to finish what they started did they appear to believe that I was the real Shadow."

"So, you're just going to let them keep thinking that?" Mario asked, "No offence, but that's pretty dumb."

"It's for the better," Shadow explained, "because now that I have finally resolved my past, that old Shadow _is_ truly dead."

"But now what are you going to do?"

"Fulfill Maria's promise to help this world, and from the looks of things, that means helping you guys out."

Shadow pulled out the Emerald Star he used to save Mario and handed it to him.

"You've been looking for these things, right? Take this with you and go back to the castle. All your friends probably think you're dead as well."

"Okie-dokie!" Mario agreed, "Thanks for the help! Come on, guys, let's-a go!"

Mario and the small herd of yoshis began to head down the hill towards Beanbean Castle, but he stopped when he realized that Shadow wasn't following.

"Hey! Shadow!" Mario called out, "Aren't you coming?"

Shadow didn't reply. Instead, he turned around and walked away slowly. Mario simply watched him until he was completely out of sight.

"Well, he certainly fit Sonic's description of him," Mario said with a sigh, "Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog."

* * *

"So... Mario... He's..."

"I'm afraid so, Princess," Sonic answered, "I'm sorry."

"But we got the Beanstar back," Amy interjected, attempting to cheer up the crowd inside the castle's main hall, "and we freed all the roboticized Beanbean citizens, _and_ Eggman's base was completely destroyed!"

"Amy, I'm not sure if you're helping..." Tails muttered, "I don't think all the good news in the world would make them feel better... Especially Luigi."

Tails motioned towards Luigi, who was sitting in a corner, crying his eyes out to the point where he was making visible puddles on the floor. It would have been almost humorous, if what Luigi had been crying over wasn't so serious.

"Mario nobly sacrificed himself to ensure the success of this mission," Prince Peasley announced solemnly, "Let us have a moment of silence to remember him."

Everyone in the hall obliged, Luigi included, but during the silent memoriam, there was a knock at the door!

"Huh? Who's there?" Queen Bean asked, "We are trying to honor someone who died right now!"

"You are?" came a _very_ familiar voice from the other side of the door, "How sad... Who's it for?"

The door swung open, and Mario came walking in!

"MARIO!" about fifteen different voices all screamed at the same time. Luigi immediately ran up to his brother and gave him a huge hug, with Peach quickly doing the same thing afterwards. Everyone else in the room simply stood still in shock.

"Mario! You're okay!" Luigi sobbed, tears of joy streaming down his face, "How did you get out? We all thought that... Well, you know... That your game was over!"

"Well, I almost thought that too, but..." Mario paused and looked at the hill where Shadow was standing before, "I had a little help from a friend."

"Who? These yoshis?" Peach asked, pointing to the small herd standing right behind Mario.

"Why, yes, actually..." Mario responded, "Without them, I wouldn't have stood a chance!"

It _was_ the truth, as it was the speed of the yoshis that allowed Mario to reach Shadow in the first place, and this response seemed to satisfy everyone else in the room.

"Well, it's good to see you alive, my boy," E. Gadd complimented, "your survival means that our raid on Eggman's base was a complete success!"

"Not only that, look what else I found!" Mario announced, pulling out the Emerald Star Shadow had given him.

"You found one of those Emerald Stars?" Sonic asked, "Sweet! That makes it two for us and none for them!"

"Speaking of the Emerald Stars..." E. Gadd began, "Before we had to evacuate the castle because of Bowser and Eggman's sudden appearance, Luigi and I were studying the contents of that CD he burned..."

"... Finally..." Luigi murmured under his breath.

"... And from the information on it, I was able to come up with a very plausible, but unfortunately very dangerous, theory on what the Emerald Stars can do."

"Sounds good," Sonic replied, "let's see it!"

E. Gadd walked back up to the makeshift stage, which was still standing despite Bowser and Eggman's raid on the castle, while Luigi resumed his duty as slide projector operator. Once everyone was paying attention, Gadd began his presentation.

"Now, we all know that the Emerald Stars are very powerful and should be collected at all costs," Gadd started, "but what would happen if Bowser and Eggman DID get their hands on all seven?"

Luigi started up the projector, which displayed a crudely drawn image of the Echidna City getting attacked by Chaos as well as the Giziod.

"What the?... Who drew that? That looks awful!" Knuckles grunted, "My people were NOT a bunch of stick figures!"

Luigi whistled innocently and quickly hid the crayons he was using earlier.

"Um... Right, Knuckles," Amy mumbled, "So... Gadd? What's this all about? We already know that the Echidna Empire was destroyed twice; once by Chaos and once by the Giziod."

"Exactly! I'm sure all of you," Gadd said, pointing towards the group of furries on the one side of the room, "are familiar with the fate of Knuckle's race, which Eggman has repeatedly tired to use to take out modern civilization as well. However, there is one creature that destroyed the Echidnas that Eggman _hasn't_ yet tried to use for his own devices, mainly because he could never find it."

Luigi went to the next slide, which was an equally bad drawing of the city being wiped out, but with a new monster looming over the destruction.

"Giga Bowser is that creature." E. Gadd stated gravely.

"But Giga Bowser was a creation of the Master Hand!" Peach objected, "and we got rid of him before, didn't we, Mario?"

"Yeah..." Mario mused, thinking back to the fierce battle he had with the monstrosity, "I thought I beat him... At the same time as that warlock guy... And that psychic thing..."

"The Master Hand only created a replica of him," Twink replied, sounding as serious as the original Geno, "The original was... is... still out there somewhere. At least, that's what the Star Spirits have said."

"So, could this perhaps mean," Lady Lima concluded, "that, since he now has finally found the third monster, Eggman plans on collecting the Emerald Stars to give to Bowser, so that he may transform into Giga Bowser?"

"You are absolutely correct," Gadd responded, "unfortunately, there is one thing that is terrifying to consider."

Luigi changed to the next slide, which had four 'equations' on it. The first was a drawing of Chaos 0 plus a drawing of the seven Chaos Emeralds equaling a drawing of Perfect Chaos. The second and third equations showed the same basic principle for both the Giziod and Bowser, but the last one was different in a bad way.

"Sonic and his friends already know that Eggman had to give Chaos the seven emeralds in order for him to transform. The same was true for the Giziod and most likely for Bowser as well. However..."

Gadd pointed to the last equation, which basically said, "Bowser + 7 Emerald Stars ?"

"The Emerald Stars are more powerful than the Chaos Emeralds. That means that, if Bowser gets his hands on all seven, he will turn into something even _more _powerful than Giga Bowser!"

"Holy smokes!" Vector exclaimed, "I don't even know what the heck this Giga Bowser is, and I already don't wanna have to deal with him, let alone something even stronger!"

"Well, we've already got two Emerald Stars..." Charmy assured, "Why don't we just hide 'em somewhere and ruin their plans that way?"

"These Emerald Stars," Espio explained, eyeing the star Mario was holding "I can sense their power... They're seven times more powerful than a single Chaos Emerald!"

"So?" Charmy asked, seemingly unimpressed.

"If they get even one, Bowser could still turn into at least Giga Bowser."

"WOAH! That's not cool!"

"Hey, that actually sounds pretty sweet," Sonic commented, grabbing the Emerald Star Mario was holding, "Does this mean I can turn into Super Sonic with only one of these?"

"Super Sonic?" Mario repeated, slightly uneasy.

"I wouldn't try it..." E. Gadd warned, "You probably could, theoretically, but... Seeing how, according to Tails, you manage to lose the Chaos Emeralds every time after you go super, I would rather we not have to go after an Emerald Star again."

"Oh, well, that makes sense," Sonic replied, handing Mario back his star, "I guess the next best thing to do is go after the remaining five, right?"

Before anyone could respond, there was suddenly a commotion that could be heard outside the door.

"I'm sorry, sir," a voice, presumably a bean guard, said, "but no one is allowed in at this time."

"I don't care, bub!" another voice responded, "This is important, and the last thing I need is a stupid vegetable... fruit... whatever the heck a bean is... stopping me from gettin' through!"

"But..."

"MOVE IT, LOSER!"

The doors swung open, and none other than Wario came marching into the room!

"Hello, everybody!" Wario greeted to a very shocked audience, "Miss me? Of course you di---"

"YOU!" Knuckles roared, "YOU'RE THE ONE WHO TRICKED ME! YOU'RE GOIN' DOWN!"

"Uh... Uh oh..."

The next thing Wario knew, he was flying across the room like an awkward missile after receiving one of Knuckles' trademark punches. He would have probably gotten another had Cream not also enter the room!

"Huh? Cream?" Knuckles shouted, dumbfounded, "What are you doing here?"

"Mr. Knuckles! Please don't hit Mr. Wario!" Cream protested.

"Chao, chao!" Cheese agreed.

"Why not?" Knuckles grunted, "This guy tried to steal the Chaos Emeralds AND the Master Emerald!"

"But he made sure I was safe all the way here! When I first met him, I asked him if he could take me to Mr. Sonic, because he said he knew him and I was afraid that Mr. Eggman would try to capture me again since Mr. Sonic wasn't around, and he said yes!"

"That's right! She's telling the truth!" Wario sputtered, quickly trying to make himself look good, "Kids don't lie, right? I took care of this brat the entire time!"

"Hmph, fine..." Knuckles growled as he turned back to Wario, "But why are you here, anyway? I doubt it's just to say you're sorry."

"Well," Wario answered, turning back to the crowd, "I have a very good reason to risk getting my face punched in by dread head here to see you guys, and that reason is..."

Wario suddenly threw himself to the floor at Mario's feet and began to cry out in an overdramatic fashion.

"YOU GOTTA HELP ME!" Wario pleaded, "EGGBUTT'S AFTER ME, AND IF I DON'T DO SOMETHING QUICK, I'M GONNA BE TURNED INTO A ROBOT!"

"And we should believe you why?" Mario asked.

"Hey, come on, now! What reasons would you have for _not_ believing me?"

"Well," Tails began, "You gave up your job protecting the yoshis so you could swipe the emeralds, you duped Knuckles into thinking Mario was the bad guy, you..."

"Shut up, pixel brain," Wario grunted.

"HEY!" Sonic shouted, "Don't call Tails that!"

"Like you should be talking..." Wario mumbled under his breath before continuing, "Anyway, I also have a little bargaining chip I'll give you guys if you help me out, because I love you losers so much."

"And that would be?..."

"A limited edition, one of only seven in the world, Muskular blue Emerald Star!"

"An Emerald Star?" Peach exclaimed, "Can we see it?"

"Uh... Well... You see, I don't have it _on_ me, but it's in a secure place so that Eggy doesn't get his grimy little paws on it... I think."

"Well then, Wario," Mario proposed, "If you go get that Emerald Star and bring it back to Peach's Castle, we will let you join the good guys again."

"Really? That's all I have to do?"

"Uh, huh."

"YAHOO! Alright, ol' Mario ol' buddy ol' boy! I'll go get that shiny rock for ya, and you'll keep my butt out of the roboticizer! It's a done deal!"

Wario was about to run off before Mario stopped him again.

"However," Mario added, "Knuckles will go with you."

"He will?"

"I will?" Knuckles asked in equal shock.

"Yep," Mario assured, "He'll make sure you don't try anything sneaky."

"Aw, come on!" Wario whined, "Why do I have to go with the red furball? Don't you trust me?"

"No."

"Uh... Well, okay, then... Fine! Be that way! Yo, fuzz face! Get yer rear in gear, we're goin' to Diamond City!"

"Sigh... Alright, but if you do anything I even _think_ is suspicious, you're getting a knuckle sandwich!"

As soon as Wario and Knuckles left, still bickering as they went, Sonic turned to Cream.

"Did Wario really bring you all this way just so that I could protect you?" Sonic asked.

"Yes he did, Mr. Sonic!" Cream replied, "He even protected me from danger multiple times on the trip!"

"Heh, heh... Pretty cool. And here I thought he was just a greedy slob who didn't care about anyone."

"Actually, he is," Luigi corrected, "Next thing you know, he'll charge Cream about ten thousand gold coins for doing that!"

Everyone in the hall (except Cream, who didn't get it) had a good laugh at Luigi's joke. It was at least a small light moment in the middle of a very dark situation: the threat of the return of Giga Bowser... Or perhaps something more sinister.

* * *

On board the Egg Carrier, Eggman was sitting in the command chair, watching on a monitor as Wario and Knuckles left Beanbean Castle and headed in the direction of Diamond City. Bowser was standing nearby, also watching the turn of events.

"Heh, gotta love your spybots, doc," Bowser commented, "I really should get a couple for myself to keep an eye on those Mario Bros."

"Yes, they are quite good at observing what those pests are up to," Eggman agreed, "And it looks like my hypothesis was correct: Wario has one of the Emerald Stars in his precious little office building."

"So, do you want be to trash the place?" Bowser offered, "I'll get the Emerald Star, and I'll bring back those two muscleheads so you can roboticize them!"

"No, you have a much more important job to do, as do I... However, why don't we send a 'friend' of Wario's to do the job? Oh, Mecha Waluigi!" Eggman called out.

A figure that was standing in the shadows slowly walked out, revealing itself to be Waluigi... only he was now roboticized.

"Yes, Master Robotnik?" Mecha Waluigi asked in a cold, robotic tone.

"Go to Diamond City with an army of robots and level the entire place to the ground. Once the dust settles, claim the Emerald Star hiding there and bring back your brother and his new fuzzy friend to be roboticized."

The robot paused for a moment to compute the request. Waluigi, no matter how much he detested his brother, would never do anything so vile to him as Eggman ordered. However, this wasn't Waluigi anymore, just another one of the mindless drones in the Eggman Empire.

"As you wish, Master Robotnik."

Author's Note: Well, that's my explanation on what happened to Shadow. I know it's kind of odd that Sonic and Co. wouldn't realize that he's real (especially after Shadow's game), but I had to fit it in with what I had already had in this story, some of which was written before his game was even announced! I understand that some people will think differently, but don't flame me about it, okay? Thanks.


	52. Back to Diamond City

"So lemme get this straight... You're the last of your race?"

"Yes..."

"And your 'sacred' duty is to sit around on that floating spit of land all day and guard that Master Emerald with your life?"

"Yes..."

"... Can I make your job easier and just take the Emerald?"

Wario suddenly found himself face-to-face with a very steamed Knuckles, who was holding him by the front of his shirt.

"NO! It is my duty to protect the Master Emerald, and I would NEVER give it to the likes of you!"

"Yeah, it's your duty, alright... And according to Blue Boy, you sure do a heck of a job! It's been stolen once, shattered into a gazillion pieces twice, and you seem to have no problem leaving it unguarded so you can go ride hoverboards! I applaud your incredible dedication to your life's purpose!"

Knuckles responded to this by promptly throwing Wario head-long into a street light situated just off the side of the road leading to Diamond City. Wario struggled to pull his head out of the lamp pole for a few moments before falling ungracefully on the ground with a thud.

"You can't do that to me!" Wario protested, "I'm on your side!"

"Not yet, you aren't," Knuckles corrected, "Mario wants that Emerald Star you supposedly have before he trusts you. _I_, on the other hand..."

"Yeah, yeah, and I'll never trust you either, fuzzball..." Wario grunted.

"And for the record..." Knuckles continued, pulling out a normal-sized emerald he apparently had since he left Angel Island, "I can condense the Master Emerald into a smaller size when I need to. That way, I can keep it with me when I have to leave Angel Island."

"Oh, thank you for that pointless piece of info!" Wario cried sarcastically, "Regardless, that still doesn't explain one thing... Where the heck do you keep that thing? Under your dreadlocks?"

Knuckles simply ignored Wario as they entered the outskirts of Diamond City. Half an hour later, they finally reached WarioWare, Inc.

"The Emerald Star is in there?" Knuckles asked.

"Yeah... On the top floor! In my office!" Wario announced, "Of course, it's under top-notch security, so there's no way anyone could get it by themselv... HEY! WHAT THE HECK ARE YA DOIN'?"

While Wario had babbled on, Knuckles took the 'direct' approach to getting to the top floor: He dug his namesakes into the side of the building and began to climb up!

"GET DOWN HERE!" Wario shouted upwards, "I DON'T WANT NO FIST-SHAPED INDENTS ON THE SIDE OF MY BUILDING!"

Unfortunately, Knuckles was already so high up, he couldn't here Wario's bickering.

"Grr... Stupid furball... When I get my hands on him, I'll..."

Wario continued to grumble as he entered the building to take the normal way up. What neither Wario nor Knuckles knew, however, was that, in a store across the street, they were being watched by everyone's favorite crackpot detectives, the Chaotix.

"Remind me again why we are doing this," Espio requested.

"Yeah!" Charmy agreed, "We could be helping Sonic and that plumber guy, but nooooo... We're stuck spying on fatso over there!"

"Yo! Can it, you two!" Vector demanded, "Knuckles is our friend, and I don't want that Wario bub trying anything funny on him! Think of it as returning the favor for him freeing us from those Combi-Confinder machines."

"Fine, you win," Espio murmured, "but I don't think we can keep an eye on him now that he's inside."

"Huh?... GAK! What are we sitting around here for? Let's move it!"

"But how are we gonna get in?" Charmy asked, "I don't think they'll just let us waltz on in there!"

"Relax, Charmy! I've got an idea! Come on!"

The trio ran across the street and entered the WarioWare building. Inside, Mona was still the receptionist at the front desk, and didn't seem all that surprised when three oversized animals came walking in.

"Hello," Mona greeted in a cheerful manor, "Welcome to WarioWare, Inc. May I help you?"

"Yes, Ma'm, we're the... Custodial group Wario hired," Vector bluffed.

"You mean we're a bunch of JANITORS?" Charmy cried, "I don't wanna clean anything! I... Mmph!"

"Quiet, Charmy! Do you want to blow our cover?" the crocodile hissed, covering the bee's mouth, "Erm... Sorry, Ma'm. He's new here."

"He didn't read the job description, apparently," Espio deadpanned.

"Yo! No comments from the peanut gallery!"

"Uh huh..." Mona replied, not totally convinced, "If you're custodians, where's your equipment?"

"Um... We were just going to use the supplies you have! I mean, this building _does_ have a janitor's closet, right?" Vector asked.

"Well, we do, actually... Should I notify Wario that you are here?"

"NO! I mean... No, that's alright. We'll just get right to work cleaning! I'm sure he'll be impressed by that!"

Not waiting for a response, Vector grabbed Charmy by the antenna and ran into the next room, with Espio following quickly behind.

"Phew! That was a close one!" Charmy exclaimed.

"Yeah, and no thanks to you..." Vector grumbled, "Anyway, at least we're in. Let's split up and search for Wario!"

"Didn't he say he'd be on the top floor?" the little bee remembered, "Why look anywhere else?"

"He could be planning something elsewhere before going to his office," Espio explained, "I'll go up there while I'm invisible and wait. Charmy, you can take all these cubicles..."

"And I'll keep that whole custodian cover-up going!" Vector concluded, "Okay, team, let's go!"

With that, Vector, Espio, and Charmy each went their separate ways into WarioWare, Inc.

* * *

Charmy flew over all the cubicles, watching for Wario doing anything suspicious. However, it was ultimately in vain, as he couldn't even find the man, let alone him trying something funny. He did, though, stumble across one cubicle that quickly took his mind off the job. 

"Hey, wait a second..." Charmy mumbled as glanced downwards, "Is that really?..."

He hovered down into the small space and had a closer look at what caught his attention: a shelf with all sorts of video game paraphernalia. It was mostly figurines, but there were also some alarm clocks and even a few Game & Watch systems.

"Oh, wow!" Charmy cheered, "Whoever has all this stuff is _awesome_!"

"Well, they don't call me the Nintendo Master for nothing!"

Charmy spun around and quickly realized that the cubicle was already occupied by a kid no older than he was!

"Woah! Sorry about dropping in like that! I didn't know you were..."

"Hey, it's no problem," the kid replied, "I'm glad to know someone as excited about video games as I am. The name's 9-Volt. What's yours?"

"Charmy! Pleased to meet ya!"

"Same here! Say, you gotta minute? I'm on break, and I was about to kill some time on the ol' Gamecube. Wanna join? It's more fun with two people!"

"You bet! It wasn't like I was doing anything _too_ important anyway..."

Throwing his job to the wind, Charmy sat down, grabbed a controller, and started playing away.

* * *

Vector had found the janitor's closet with little trouble and began 'cleaning up' around the office, just in case Mona decided to check in and make sure the three of them were doing their 'job'. 

"Ho, hum..." Vector murmured, mopping the floor, "Gee, I sure hope the other two are doin' their jobs. Well, Espio I'm not so worried about, but I sure hope Charmy didn't find that crazy video game cubicle I saw earlier..."

Vector stopped mopping and walked carefully over to the janitor cart to grab a 'Wet Floor' sign.

"At any rate, all I have to do is keep up this little act until Wario and Knux come out with the Emerald Star. How hard can that be?"

THUD!

Vector glanced over to where he heard the noise originate from and saw a black-haired girl in a red dress lying face first on the floor! Apparently, she had slipped on the wet floor!

"Whoops! Sorry there, kid!" Vector apologized, running over to help her up, "I was just about to put up the 'Wet Floor' sign for that!"

The girl didn't wait for Vector's help. Instead she got up by herself and gave Vector an icy glare.

"You dare cause the Great Ashley to fall?" the girl inquired, her eyes turning red.

"Uh... Woah! Take it easy, kid! It was an accident!"

"I'll show you what happens to those who defy me!" Ashley roared, pulling out what looked like a magic wand.

Vector quickly decided he didn't want to hang around and find out what happened, so he made a mad dash down the hall. Risking a quick glance backwards, he saw a giant lightning bolt heading straight for his head! He dropped to the ground and watched as it passed harmlessly overhead, leaving a huge scorch mark on the far wall.

"ACK! KID, GET OFF MY CASE!" Vector pleaded, getting up off the floor and continuing his sprint, "Geez, do all janitors have it this hard?"

* * *

While Charmy was getting his game on and Vector was trying to avoid a witch's wrath, Espio had succeeded in getting into Wario's office undetected. The first thing he noticed was Knuckles hanging outside the window, banging on the glass! Not wanting to leave his friend hanging like that, the chameleon walked over and let Knuckles in. 

"Espio? What are you doing here?" Knuckles asked as he got inside.

"Vector decided that we should act as backup, in case Wario tries any crazy stunts," Espio responded.

"Thanks, but I think I can take care of myself. After all, regardless of what I think of him personally, he would have to be a fool to not take up Mario's offer... If he even has an Emerald Star, anyway."

Suddenly, the doorknob of the office door began to turn.

"Uh oh! You better hide fast!" the echidna warned.

"No problem," Espio answered, quickly becoming invisible.

Wario came stomping into the room with a huge strip of toilet paper clung to his shoe. Every few feet, he would try to shake it off, with no success.

"Grr... Stupid piece of paper..." Wario grumbled, "Oh... Hey, Stupid. Sorry to keep ya waiting... not... but when you gotta go, you gotta go! And let me tell ya, I _really_ had to---"

"Ugh! You don't need to elaborate! Where's the Emerald Star?" Knuckles demanded.

"Hey, don't get your dreadlocks in a knot! I've got it right here!"

Wario walked over to the picture covering the vault the Emerald Star was in (while _still_ trying to get the toilet paper off his foot) and began the process of retrieving the star. After taking down the portrait, opening the vault, and digging through a small collection of cash, gold bars, and jewels, he finally pulled out the relic Knuckles was looking for.

"Here! See! I've got it! Now do ya believe me?"

"Sigh... Fine. Just give it to me and we'll go back to show Mario."

"Why do I have to give it to _you_?"

"SO YOU DON'T TRY RUNNING OFF WITH IT!" Knuckles replied loudly, quickly losing his patience.

"Alright! You win! Take it! Although, I would _love_ to see what color your face turns after red..."

Just as Wario was about to hand off the star, however, there was a loud explosion and the sound of shattering glass. Wario, Knuckles, and an invisible Espio all turned to see the window that Knuckles had entered through was now destroyed, and right outside was a large collection of flying Eggman robots, with a very familiar character as their ringleader...

"WA-WA-WALUIGI?" Wario shuttered, "WHAT DID THEY DO TO YOU?"

The roboticized brother, hovering in the air with the other robots via jetpack didn't respond to Wario's question. Instead, he held out his arm, which transformed into a blaster, and delivered an ultimatum.

"Wario, You are to give me the Emerald Star or I shall destroy this entire city. You have one minute to decide."


	53. Battle of the Mechs

_Searching for Emerald Stars. Please wait..._

_Searching..._

_Searching..._

_Searching..._

"You'd think something that powerful would be easy to find using radar," Luigi commented, looking at the computer screen.

"Perhaps..." E. Gadd agreed as he typed some additional data into the machine, "But sometimes something can be too powerful to be picked up."

"Huh? That doesn't make any sense! How can something be _too_ powerful? Wouldn't more power make it _easier_ to locate?"

"On the contrary," Tails explained, "if the Emerald Stars are powerful enough, the energy would be too much for radar to pick up. It's kind of like how the human ear can't hear a sound that is too high pitched or how we can only see certain wavelengths of energy known as visible light and not others like ultraviolet or infrared."

"I see... I really shouldn't have dozed off in my physics class..."

Luigi leaned against the side of a huge computer tower as E. Gadd and Tails continued to tinker away with their so-called 'Chaos Radar'. After recovering the Emerald Star in the Beanbean Kingdom, they decided that it was best to move their base of operations back to Princess Peach's Castle. After all, it was the center of the Mushroom Kingdom and there was already an Emerald Star there, bringing their total up to two.

"So, is that thing looking for Emerald Stars the Mushroom Kingdom?" Luigi asked, trying to make conversation.

"Better than that!" Gadd replied with a chuckle, "Tails helped me link this up to the Space Colony ARK so we can search the entire planet!"

Suddenly, the machine started to beep loudly. Gadd immediately looked at the monitor and nearly jumped out of his chair.

"Holy smokes! We've found something! Tails, get Mario and Sonic in here fast!"

"Right! You can count on me!"

Tails quickly used his namesakes to fly out of a nearby window and onto the castle grounds. Unfortunately, an immediate look around didn't reveal where the duo was. Instead, all he saw were Peach, Amy, Cream, and Cheese having tea in the garden.

"Would you like some more tea, Cream?" Peach asked politely.

"Why, yes, Ms. Peach! That would be nice!" Cream responded.

"Chao! Chao!" Cheese also answered, munching on a cookie.

"You're castle is really pretty, Peach," Amy complimented, "It must be really nice living here."

"Yes it is. Although, I sure do wish security was a little tighter..."

At this point, Tails began to walk up to the small party. Amy was the first to notice.

"Hmm? Tails? What are you doing here?"

"I think E. Gadd found something on the Chaos Radar, and we gotta tell Sonic and Mario about it! Have you seen them?"

"I think Mario said something about them practicing their fighting techniques," Peach recalled, "You should probably check the fields nearby."

"Okay! Thanks for the help!"

With that, Tails flew back up into the sky, leaving a slightly confused Amy to look back at Peach.

"Practicing their fighting techniques? What on Mobius were they talking about, Peach?"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

One moment, Mario was jumping through the air and the next, he got a face full of spikes and felt himself hit the earth with a rather loud thud. Lying face up, he could see a blue sphere dropping down on him like a cannonball. At the last second, he back flipped out of the way and back onto his feet as the blue ball hit the ground in front of him, immediately unrolling itself to reveal it to be none other than Sonic the Hedgehog. Before Sonic could run in and get another strike, Mario quickly did a break-dance sweep and sent the hedgehog back a few feet. With the extra breathing room, he threw a few fireballs before running in for the final blow. However, he was surprised to discover Sonic immediately curling up into a ball again and spin-dashing right into his legs, knocking him face-first onto the floor! Before he could get back up, Sonic placed a foot on Mario's back, pinning him to the ground.

"Okay... Okay... You win this round..." Mario mumbled, "But I'm still wining by three."

"Hey, at least I didn't try to send you flying out of bounds this time," Sonic replied with a playful smirk, "and you're only ahead by two! That one time didn't count!"

At this point, Sonic took his foot off of Mario, allowing him to get on his two feet again.

"Yeah right... You're just saying that because you don't want to admit I was quick enough to grab and toss you out!" Mario teased, dusting his overalls off, "Really, though, you're not half bad! Next time that Master Hand decides to throw another one of his 'tournaments', you should join!"

"Heh, really now? I'll have to think about that..."

"SONIC! MARIO!"

The duo quickly looked up to see Tails flying downwards. Once he landed, he hunched over and began to pant heavily.

"Whoa there, Tails!" Sonic called out, "You really should take it easy on that flying! You know you can only go so long before you just tucker out!"

"I... pant... I know... wheeze... Sonic," Tails sputtered, "What... phew... are two you doing... gasp... all the way out here?"

"Practicing," Mario explained, "I figured that with Bowser and Eggman joining forces, we could use all the combat prowess we can get!"

"Of course," Sonic continued, "It was also a good way to find out who's really the better hero, and yours truly was naturally the victor."

"What? Hey! I'm beating you by three!"

"Two," Sonic corrected, "and they were both cheep shots."

"Since when was juggling you in the air with head butts considered a 'cheep shot'?"

"Um... Guys?" Tails, now fully recovered from his tiring flight, interrupted.

"Oh, yeah, gee... I nearly forgot about you, little buddy! What's up, Tails?" Sonic asked.

"I think E. Gadd found another one of the Emerald Stars!"

"He did?" Mario gasped, "Momma mia! We got to get back to the castle pronto! Let's-a go!"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You failed me again, Lord Crump."

"Hey, it wasn't _my_ fault! I didn't know that the Emerald Star could do that Chaos Control thing! Nothing like that happened last time!"

"That's because _last_ time, we were looking for a different set of relics!"

"But... But wasn't one of 'em also called an Emerald Star? I think it was the one in that big tree..."

"Crump... Just be silent."

Sir Grodus turned away and walked back to his throne and sat down. He was still disgusted at Crump's failure, but even more so at his pathetic excuses. Thanks to his incompetence, they had failed to recover the Emerald Star and now the world was aware of their return.

"Now that you have managed to lose one of the Emerald Stars," Grodus continued, "we'll have to locate another one to claim as our own."

"And I'll be the one who goes out and gets it, right?"

"No! You have failed me for the last time!"

"Uh... That's bad, huh?"

Grodus didn't get a chance to reply before a large explosion echoed throughout the moon base.

"Hmm? What was that?" Grodus questioned.

"I dunno, boss! It wasn't my fault!"

Suddenly, the door to the throne room opened and a very charred X-Naut Trooper stumbled in. Despite his blackened body, his face was very pale. It looked like he had seen a ghost.

"You! What's going on out there?" Grodus demanded.

"Dude... There's this... this dude out there... in a freaking huge mech... shooting everything in sight..."

The X-Naut passed out from exhaustion before saying anything else. Grodus looked back at Crump, who was sweating bullets at the thought of this new foe.

"Crump..."

"Gulp... Yeah?"

"Perhaps this is a chance to redeem yourself. Go and stop this intruder!"

"Wait a second! How am I supposed to stop him? You heard that bub, he's got a mech!"

"Then I suggest that you go see if the X-Naut PhDs have finished their repairs on _our_ mech."

Upon remembering that they had a mech as well, all of Crump's fear quickly faded.

"Oh right... When you put it that way, let's teach that invader a thing or two! Buh! Buh huh! Buh huh huh!"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Although Eggman usually preferred to let his robots do most of the dirty work for him, he enjoyed occasionally climbing into his Egg Walker and causing mayhem and destruction first-hand. He drove his vehicle through the hallways of the X-Naut base, blasting anyone who dared oppose him. Of course, he didn't want to _kill_ them, since he had bigger plans for the X-Nauts, but he did want to show them that he meant business. After tearing through a few dozen X-Nauts, he was surprised to encounter one that was slightly bigger and chubbier than the others standing in the way.

"Why, hello there," Eggman greeted in mock politeness, "And who could you possibly be?"

"The name's Lord Crump, and don't you forget it! Sir Grodus sent me out to teach you a lesson about coming in uninvited!"

"Oh yeah? You and what army? Besides these pathetic foot solders, I mean."

Crump didn't reply. Instead, he pulled out a small remote and pressed the only button on it, causing a small, box-shaped pod hovered down. He jumped inside, and the pod slowly transformed into a giant, platinum robot, complete with arms, something the Egg Walker lacked.

"Prepare to face the wrath of the Magnus Von Grapple 3.0! Buh huh! Man, I'm so evil, it's awesome!"

"Oh please! That thing looks like it's made of paper!" Eggman joked, "Nevertheless, I'll gladly destroy your little robot and prove that my machine is superior."

"I'd like to see you try! Buh! Buh huh! Buh huh huh!"

The Magnus Von Grapple aimed one of its arms directly at the Egg Walker and fired a missile. Eggman countered by quickly sidestepping the projectile and retaliating with a shot from the Volkan Cannon, which hit Crump dead-on.

"What? Hey! Don't move when I'm trying to hit you!" Crump protested, "That's not fair!"

"Do I look like the kind of person who cares about fairness?" Eggman rhetorically asked, "Now, get a load of THIS!"

Eggman flipped a lever, and a miniature missile silo came out of the back of the Egg Walker, which sent a hail of explosives at the Magnus Von Grapple. Although Crump dodged some of the missiles, it was virtually impossible to avoid them all, and he was sent reeling once again from the blast.

"Grr... Okay, now I'm REALLY mad!" Crump shouted, "Time to pull out my secret weapon!"

Crump slammed his fist down on a button, causing the front of the Magnus Von Grapple to open up, revealing a huge canon. Rather than shooting, though, the canon began _sucking_ stuff inside. Three unconscious X-Naut troopers, two barrels, and one huge chunk of a blown-out wall later, Crump pressed another button, which made the cannon begin shooting its... unique projectiles.

"Good grief! This is ridiculous!" Eggman grumbled, dodging an X-Naut that missed his head by about three inches, "Alright, it's time to end th--- OW!"

Before Eggman could finish his remark, one of the barrels hit him square on the nose, causing it to swell up even bigger than it normally was.

"Ow... My nodes... Dad's id! I'm finishing dis ding now!"

The Egg Walker's cannon began glowing as blue particles began to be absorbed by it forming into a light blue sphere right in front of the cannon.

"Dake dis! POWER LASER!"

The canon fired, sending a sideways pillar of blue light directly at the Magnus Von Grapple. The laser engulfed the entire mech for about five seconds before finally fading away. When the attack ended, all that was left was a dumbfounded Lord Crump sitting suspended in the air for a moment before dropping onto a pile of ash that used to be his machine right below him.

"Uh... Okay, how about we call this a draw?" Crump suggested.

Eggman just laughed and walked past the defeated Crump and towards the throne room. Upon entering, he was somewhat surprised to discover Grodus sitting calmly on his throne, as if he was waiting for him.

"I knew you would get past Crump," Grodus stated flatly, "that imbecile couldn't find his way out of an empty room."

"Heh, heh... That was certainly true," Eggman agreed, rubbing his slowly healing nose, "But that dweeb certainly had some interesting tricks up his sleeve."

"I'm sure... So, what reason do you have for cutting a swath of destruction through my base? It wasn't just to drop by for tea, I'm sure."

"Of course not! Rather, I have a proposition I would like to offer to you, and I can assure you that it would be in your best interest if you took my offer."

"And why would that be?"

"Tell me... Are you looking for the Emerald Stars?"

Sir Grodus' mechanical heart skipped a beat. If this man could find another Emerald Star for him, surely he could finally obtain his revenge!

"I'm interested," Grodus responded, a sinister grin appearing on his face, "Continue..."


	54. Diamond City Escape

Although he was blind, Voldo could easily detect the intruder's presence. He swung his katars at the invader, only to feel the recoil of a shield. Undaunted, he thrust his right hand forward, impaling the combatant in the gut. Hissing sinisterly, he then held him up in the air with his one hand and hit him in the face with the other, causing the victim to spin around unmercifully on his katar. Upon dumping the fighter back onto the ground, he listened to the resulting echo: he could tell that his opponent had his back against a cliff. One good hit and he would fall into the bottomless abyss behind him.

However, something happened that Voldo wasn't expecting. He first felt his foe grab him by his arm. Then, he suffered excruciating pain as his adversary leaped over his shoulder, twisting his arm completely around. Finally, he felt himself get struck hard in the back and was propelled forward, himself falling into the pit below...

_Ring Out! Link Wins!_

"Aw, man!" Charmy moaned, throwing his controller on the ground, "I _hate_ that guy's throw! It's unfair! Can't you play as someone else?"

"Hey, ring outs are _too_ fair!" 9-Volt retorted, "Besides, Link is the whole reason I got this game! You don't expect me _not_ to use him, do you? Look, I think Nightmare is good at ring outs as well, so it should be an even match if you play as him..."

"Charmy? What da heck are you doin'?"

Charmy whirled around and saw a very exhausted Vector standing in the entrance of the cubicle.

"Whoa! Hiya, Vec! You alright? You look pretty tired..."

"I just spend this entire time trying to run away from some psycho kid who wanted to blow my head off with a freakin' magic wand, and you were in here playing video games?"

"Uh, huh!" Charmy replied, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Vector was mad at him, "Say, you wanna play? I bet you'd be a natural with Lizardman..."

"NO!" Vector roared, "Charmy, you were supposed to keep an eye on Wario, not play Tekken!"

"Actually, this is Soul Caliber II..." 9-Volt corrected, "Tekken is a game for one of those _other_ systems..."

"I DON'T CARE! ALL I KNOW IS THAT IT'S A FIGHTING GAME, AND IT'S KEEPING CHARMY FROM DOIN' HIS JOB!"

Frustrated, Vector grabbed Charmy by his antennas and began to drag him out of the cubicle.

"Wait, Vec!" Charmy protested, "I didn't even get 9-Volt's friend code for Metroid Prime: Hunters yet!"

"I don't care!" Vector snapped back, "We've got more important things to do, like making sure Knuckles is alright!"

* * *

Knuckles was _not_ alright. At the moment, he and Wario were staring down the barrel of a blaster, being held by none other than Mecha Waluigi.

"So... Erm... Wow, this stinks," Wario commented, rapidly regaining his composure after seeing his brother roboticized, "got any bright ideas, knucklehead?"

Knuckles didn't respond, as he was too busy looking at where Espio was standing, albeit invisible. He noticed that the shattered glass from the window over there was crunching a bit, evidence that the chameleon was attempting a sneak attack on Mecha Waluigi.

Unfortunately, the robot was already one step ahead of him. Having suspected that someone else was hiding in the room, Mecha Waluigi had activated his thermal vision. Sure enough, he saw Espio attempting to sneak up on him, which looked awfully pathetic in thermal vision, as it looked like he was just standing right there. Waluigi simply pointed his blaster at Espio and fired.

"Wha ha ha! You call that a shot, Stupid?" Wario taunted since, from his point of view, Mecha Waluigi had just shot at nothing, "You missed us by a mile! Did Eggbutt forget to give you eyes? That was the worst---"

"ESPIO!" Knuckles shouted, "Where are you? Are you alright?"

Slowly, Espio faded back into the visible realm. However, he was now standing upright on the ceiling!

"What the... Hey! What's that clod doing up there?" Wario grumbled, "The floor's down here, idiot. You should try standing on it sometime."

"Don't worry, I'm fine," Espio replied, ignoring Wario's remark, "but that guy has thermal vision! Well, this should take care of him!"

Espio pulled out a ninja star and threw it at Mecha Waluigi. However, all he had to do was hover sideways as the star flew past him and struck one unfortunate robot flying right behind him, causing it to explode.

"Nice try," Waluigi dead-paned, "but your one minute time limit has expired. Therefore, I shall destroy this entire city and claim the Emerald Star from you."

"Heh, heh, fat chance, sucker!" Wario countered, "But if you want it, ya gonna have to pry it from my cold, dead, grubby hands!"

"On the contrary..." the robot continued, "I shall capture and roboticize the three of you and then order you to give the Emerald Star to me. Thus, your hands will just be cold and grubby, not dead."

"Dang, this guy's good," Wario mumbled.

At that moment, Vector and Charmy came barging into the room. Vector looked at Wario holding the Emerald Star, then at Mecha Waluigi hovering outside the window, and then back at Wario again.

"Ah ha! I knew it!" Vector declared, pointing an accusing finger at Wario, "He was working with Eggman this entire time! He used that Emerald Star as bait to lure Knuckles over here so his roboticized brother could capture him! Fortunately, _we_ caught wind of his plan!"

"SAY WHAT?" Wario screamed, "THIS AIN'T MY FAULT!"

"Give it up, you bad man!" Charmy demanded, preparing his stinger, "You're not fooling us! Take this!"

The hyperactive bee dive-bombed at Wario, ready to jab his stinger into him. However, at the last moment, Espio dropped down from the ceiling and landed on top of Charmy, pinning him to the floor.

"Hey, Espio! What's the big idea?" Charmy whined, "He's the bad guy, right?"

"No he's not," Espio corrected, "I saw him willingly getting the Emerald Star for Knuckles, _and_ he certainly had no idea about Waluigi being roboticized."

"Finally! Someone's on _my_ side for once!" Wario sighed, "It's about freakin' time!"

"Hey, I'd hate to interrupt your shenanigans..." Knuckles interjected, "but we've got a little problem to take care of here!"

The echidna pointed out the window to show that now the entire city was under attack by Eggman's robots! Waluigi was still floating outside the window, but he was now a little further away and higher up, making him out of reach and a lot more imposing looking over the destruction.

"Your incompetence has doomed this entire city," the robot announced, "surrender the Emerald Star now and I might spare the civilians' lives."

"Eh... 'Might' means 'no' in villain speak, right?" Wario assessed.

"Grr... You're not getting the Emerald Star _or_ destroying the city!" Knuckles roared, "And we'll demolish every last one of your robots if we have to!"

"I was hoping you'd say that..." Waluigi sneered.

The blaster on his arm now transformed into a bazooka-type weapon, which he pointed right at Wario and Knuckles' feet and fired. The resulting explosion sent the duo tumbling towards the ground while, thanks to Charmy's quick actions, the Chaotix were able to grab onto the bee's feet and fly back into what remained of Wario's office.

"WHOA! KNUCKLES!" Vector hollered, "Great, he musta fallen all the way to the ground! And there's gotta be a bajillion of Eggman's goonies down there! Hold on, pal! We're commin'!"

* * *

Besides incredible punching and wall climbing, one of Knuckles other abilities was being able to glide. Therefore, the freefall from the top of the WarioWare building was of no major concern to him. He simply spread his arms and legs out like a parachutist would and began to descend slowly and gracefully... Until Wario landed square on his back, causing both of them to drop like a rock. By the time the two of them pulled themselves out of the crater they created in the sidewalk, they found themselves surrounded by Egg Pawns.

"Hmm... Thousands of robots on all sides, no seemingly possible way to escape, slow and painful death and/or robotizication imminent..." Wario mused, "... Bet I can take out more robots than you, Knucklehead."

Knuckles turned to Wario and, for the first time since the two met, he smiled.

"You're on."

Needless to say, mass pandemonium ensued.

Wario charged in one direction while Knuckles headed in another, swinging their fists everywhere as they ran head-on into the army, and it didn't take long before huge masses of robots began flying everywhere. Although both relied mainly on their fists to do damage, there was a unique difference between how the two fought: Knuckles, being a master of the more Oriental styles of fighting, defeated his advisories with one-hit 'KOs' that sent the wrecked robot tumbling backwards into its comrades behind it. Wario, on the other hand, used more over-the-top wrestling moves ranging from headlocks to body slams, and he didn't just let the robots fly where they may, either. Instead, he picked up partially wounded robots and began using them as either projectiles that he threw with such great force that he could take out an entire row of Egg Pawns with just one of them, or as melee weapons which he swung around 360 degrees over and over, taking out whatever was unfortunate enough to be in his way.

"So... Gah!... I've got... Take this!... 536 so far... Whoa!" Wario bragged when he discovered that he was back-to-back with Knuckles again, "... How about you?"

"557!" Knuckles replied.

"WHAT? I can't be beaten by a fuzzball! You musta cheated!"

And so, the battle continued, but despite their best efforts, things were looking bleak. For every Egg Pawn they defeated, ten more would take their place. Wario was the first to realize this, but he seemed to have a plan.

"Yo, dreadhead!" Wario called out, "Things ain't lookin' too good... Here, Catch!"

Wario tossed something towards Knuckles, who immediately grabbed it.

"Huh? What's this?" Knuckles asked.

"It's a clothespin! Ya gonna need it!"

"Why would I need a clothespin?"

"So you don't get affected by my..." Wario paused and struck a dramatic pose, "SECRET WEAPON!"

"Secret weapon? What on Mobius are you talking about?"

Wario didn't reply. Instead, he bent over, unceremoniously shoving his butt into the faces of all the robots in front of him. Slowly but surely, his normally huge gut began to inflate to even bigger proportions while a rather disturbing yellow glow began to form around his... glutious maximus. Deciding that he didn't need more of an explanation, Knuckles quickly put the clothespin over his nose.

"Heh heh heh... This is gonna be sooooo sweet..." Wario muttered, "Here's hoping you don't have smell receptors, you losers! WARIO WAFT!"

The next thing Knuckles knew, there was a deafening... fart, quickly followed by a mushroom cloud of toxic gas that enveloped the entire area. By the time the flatulence cleared, all that remained of Eggman's army was the occasional robotic limb. Where everything else went, Knuckles didn't even _want_ to know. Standing in the middle of it all was Wario, who was bowing to a non-existent audience.

"_Gas Expulsion in D Minor_... Thank you, thank you..." Wario mockingly addressed.

"How the heck did you do that?" Knuckles gasped... almost literally, once he got a whiff of the putrid air.

"Hey, didn't your mom ever tell ya that it's what's on the _inside_ that counts?" Wario rhetorically asked, "So... I guess I win by about 1000 bots! Pay up, sucker!"

"WHAT? Since when were we betting?"

"You could always give me that Master Emerald if you don't have the money..."

"NO!"

Casually looking up, Wario noticed that Mecha Waluigi was still there, although even he was reeling over the stench.

"Geez... Don't you _ever_ give up?" Wario groaned.

"You may have saved the city from destruction..." Waluigi began, "But there is still no escape for you!"

Suddenly, an entire fleet of flying robots began to descend on the duo.

"Erm... Exit, stage left..." Wario sputtered before running into a nearby parking garage.

"Hey! Don't leave me out here!" Knuckles shouted.

"I'm not! I'm just getting our getaway vehicle!" Wario shouted back.

"Didn't you drive your car into the ocean before?" Knuckles recalled.

"Hey, I used Chaos Control, remember? It's stuck somewhere over in Dark Land now, not in the ocean! Besides..."

There was the roar of an engine, and Wario came racing out, riding a motorcycle with _very_ big spoilers. He sped across the street before slamming on the breaks and stopping right in front of Knuckles.

"Who said that was my only vehicle? Now get on, would ya?"

Deciding that it was probably better _not_ to comment, Knuckles climbed into the motorcycle behind Wario. Just as the robots began to fire at them, Wario slammed on the gas, causing the bike to peel out and speed off, with the robots in hot pursuit. The moment the dust began to settle and people began coming out of hiding, the front doors of the WarioWare building swung open, and Team Chaotix came marching out.

"Don'tcha worry, Knuckles!" Vector cheered, "We're here to give ya a ha--- GAG! HACK! UGH! WHAT THE HECK IS THAT STENCH?"

Vector doubled over, nearly coughing up a lung.

"P.U." Charmy moaned, holding his nose, "Smells like somebody farted out here!"

"Don't be... gasp... Ridiculous, Charmy!" the crocodile sputtered, "How could someone make that much of a stink! Musta been a blown gas tank or somethin'."

Espio, who didn't seem all that affected by the smell, quickly looked around at the area in front of them.

"Looks like we missed the battle," Espio stated, "the civilians are even starting to come back out. Maybe if we didn't have to stop and get _someone_ a Friend Code, we would've gotten out here earlier..."

"Hey, come on, guys, leave me alone!" Charmy pleaded, "It's not like there are that many gamers over on Mobius I can play with! Tails is always too busy working on some contraption, and Cream---"

"CHARMY, WOULD YA JUST SHUT UP?" Vector roared, "Neither Knuckles nor that Wario guy are here! Where could they have gone?"

Vector quickly decided to put some classic detective skills to work. Glancing around, he made some quick notes of his surroundings.

"Let's see here..." Vector began, observing the robot parts lying on the ground, "It looks like Knux and Wario got rid of all the Egg Pawns first, and then..."

He pointed to some burnt rubber on the road in front of them.

"They musta got on some type of vehicle... A motorcycle, most likely... and they went that way!"

Suddenly, another slew of flying robots came rushing past the detectives. Oddly enough, none of them seemed too interested in the trio, or anyone else on the street, for that matter. Taking advantage of this, Espio quickly grabbed the wing of one of the robots and smashed it against the concrete. Before conking out completely, the robot kept repeating the same words over and over like a broken record.

"Capture of echidna and human, priority number one... Capture of echidna and human, priority number one..."

"Well, we've found out why they aren't here anymore," Espio announced, "they must be running away from all of these things."

"What? We can't let them get captured!" Vector shouted, "We have to help them!"

Looking down the street, the croc quickly spotted a taxi driving down the road.

"Well, whaduya know? How about we save ourselves some legwork, shall we? Hey! Taxi!"

The cab quickly pulled over, allowing Espio to open the back door and let the three of them pile in: Espio on the left, Vector on the right, and Charmy in the middle. Once they were seated, the small panel separating the front from the back slid open, and the face of a rather large bulldog appeared in the opening.

"Yo! Welcomes aboard!" the bulldog greeted in a thick, Brooklyn accent, "The name's Dribble. Wheres can I takes ya alls?"

"Hey, I like this guy," Vector commented to his partners, "obviously from the city, like me!"

"Didn't you say you grew up in a sewer?" Charmy mumbled.

"What the... I never said that! Where did you get that---"

Suddenly, another face, this one of a small cat, squished his way into the window with his partner.

"Hey, guys! Hurry it up, will ya?" he snapped, "there's a ton of people waiting to be rushed out of the city here! It's a cabbie's jackpot out there right now, and we don't need you guys slowin' us down!"

"Oh! Right! Follow those robots!" Vector requested, "We know the guy they're after, and we're gonna make sure they don't catch him!"

"Playin' heroes, eh?" Dribble asked, "Yous got it! Buckle up, now!"

"Hey, I've rode in taxis in Station Square. If I can survive that, I don't need to buckle..."

Before Vector could finish his sentence, Dribble 'floored it', and the next thing the Chaotix knew, they were pinned against the seats... Except for Charmy who, since he was hovering over the backseat, was now flattened against the rear window.

"Don't need to buckle up?" Espio, who had his belt securely around his waist, repeated sarcastically.

"Eh... Be quiet!" Vector groaned, "... And somebody pass the Dramamine."

* * *

With the exception of certain types of Extreme Gear, Knuckles never really rode a motorcycle before. Needless to say, riding one with Wario as the driver was probably _not_ the best way to be introduced.

"Whoa! Look out!" Knuckles shouted, "You nearly hit that car!"

"Hey, who's driving here: You or me?" Wario retorted, "If you wanna make yourself useful, why don't you try pulling off a 'Double Dash' and start pegging enemies for me, will ya?"

"And how am I supposed to do that?"

"Well, you could start by... YIKES!"

Wario, not watching where he was going (as usual), nearly collided with a Heavy Egg Hammer. At the last second, he tilted the motorcycle on its side and passed harmlessly underneath its feet. He even managed to get back upright afterwards.

"Hmph..." Knuckles grunted, rubbing his leg, since it had been pretty much grounded against the asphalt three seconds prior, "Despite getting us nearly killed and skinning my entire leg, that was sort of impressive."

"Nice to see that impressing you is actually possible..." Wario grumbled back.

"Hey, look! It's Wario! Hiya, Wario!"

Wario looked to his left and saw a taxi cab driving right next to them. In the front seat, he could clearly see two people he knew.

"Eh? Dribble? Spitz?" Wario muttered, "What are you two doin' out here? You're supposed to be WORKING!"

"Well, yous knows..." Dribble tired to explain, "With all these peoples trying to get outta this deathtrap, we figured that we could makes a killin' in cab services!"

"WHAT? That's so low and cheep, that sounds like something _I_ should be doing! Right, Dreadhead?"

Knuckles wasn't paying attention. Instead, he was looking in the back seat of the cab, where he could see the Chaotix waving at him!

"Hey, Knux!" Charmy called out, "You're still alive! That's great!"

"How'd you guys get all the way out here?" Knuckles asked, slightly confused, "I thought you guys were still at the office building."

"Let's just say that this Dribble guy drives _fast_... urp..." Vector moaned, "... and recklessly... I think I'm gonna puke..."

"Hold on there, pal! If you wanna hurl, do it _that_ way," Wario demanded, pointing away from his bike, "I don't want Vector vomit ruining my ride!"

At that moment, one of the robots took a shot and hit the back wheel of the motorcycle, causing it to being spinning out. Wario struggled to keep it upright, but it eventually hit a curb, causing him and Knuckles to be sent flying. By the time they got back on their feet, they found themselves surrounded by Eggman's goons... again.

"Great... Now what?" Knuckles mumbled, "You wouldn't happen to be able to..."

"Hey! Don't look at _me_..." Wario replied, "I can't build up gas _that_ fast! Unless you have a soda on ya, I'm out of ammo!"

Right when all seemed lost, a few of the robots mysteriously blew up. As the smoke cleared, they could see the Chaotix fighting off some of the robots! Off in the distance behind them, one could see a taxi speeding off, along with someone inside mentioning something about if rings were an acceptable type of currency in the Mushroom Kingdom.

"Yo, Knux!" Vector hollered, "It looks like you need some help, huh?"

"Thanks, guys!" Knuckles shouted back, "But I don't think these things will ever stop coming! The only way we'll be able to get out of this is if we could lose them somehow!"

Suddenly, it hit Wario like a 2x4. Pulling out the Emerald Star, he began to toss it in his hand again.

"Why didn'tcha just say so, knucklehead?"

Knuckles quickly figured out what Wario was going to do, and his eyes widened considerably.

"Wait a second! Are you crazy?" the echidna yelled, "You don't know how to use that!"

"Relax, I'm starting to get the hang of this thing! Third time's a charm, ya know! Yo! You Chaotix freaks! Get over here, will ya?"

"I don't think we've ever been addressed as 'freaks' before..." Espio murmured.

"Who cares?" Vector retorted, "If this guy really knows how to do what I think he's gonna do, it could be our ticket outta this mess! Let's go!"

The Chaotix ran over towards Wario and Knuckles, dodging enemy fire on the way. Once the five of them were together, Wario tossed the Emerald Star high into the air and caught it.

"Okay, suckers, hold on to your lunches! CHAOS CONTROL!"

The entire group disappeared in a blinding flash, leaving an entire army of Eggman robots dumbfounded. One that _wasn't_ confused, however, was Mecha Waluigi. Pulling out a small walkie-talkie, he began to report the situation to Eggman.

"Master Robotnik, the echidna and the human, along with some of their friends, have escaped via Chaos Control."

"I'm not surprised," Eggman responded from the other end, "that Wario will probably use that power whenever we try to catch him. We need someway to get the Emerald Star out of his hands _first_, and then capture him."

"Master Robotnik, my scanners indicate that they have just exited Chaos Control somewhere nearby. According to my data of this kingdom, it is a dense jungle island that contains the residence of a certain 'Dr. Crygor'. Shall I attempt to retrieve the Emerald Star and capture them again?"

"No, that will not be necessary..." Eggman replied, "Liberating the star from him is a one-man job, not an entire army's. As it just so happens, I happen to have an old acquaintance of mine that would be _perfect_ for this job..."

* * *

In a darkened office somewhere in the slums of Station Square, a shadowy figure was reclining in a chair, feet propped up on the desk in front of him. Although it was hard to see in the darkness, it appeared that he was currently cleaning a gun when his old, rotary phone began ringing. Gently laying his gun down, the character picked up the phone.

"Hello? Who's this? Ah, Dr. Robotnik... Long time, no see... What's that, you say? You've got a proposition for me? Hmm... Uh huh... So, you want me to get rid of a 'friend' of yours. Yellow shirt and cap, purple overalls, and goes by the name 'Wario'... Gotcha, but what's in it for me? This had better not be another one of your 'I'll spare you from being roboticized' deals... Ah, he's quite the moneybags, is he? Well, I suppose if he was 'disposed of', _someone_ would have to keep an eye on all those jewels... Okay, you've got yourself a deal. It's a pleasure doing business with you, doctor."

The bounty hunter put the phone back in its cradle. Thinking silently to himself for a moment, he slowly got up and walked over to a nearby dresser. He opened the top drawer and quickly found what he was looking for: a well-worn, leather hat. As he put the fedora, he began to smile, causing a single fang in his mouth to shine brightly.

"Heh heh heh... It looks like it's time for this sniper to ride again..."


	55. A Rogue's Return

Mario, as well as Sonic, Luigi, Tails, Peach, Amy, and E. Gadd, looked at the computer monitor that displayed the findings of the Chaos Radar. On it was an aerial view of the entire Mushroom Kingdom divided into equal square quadrants, like a graph. In one of the squares, a small red dot was blinking furiously, accompanied by repetitive beeping noises. Since he knew the lay of the land better than almost anyone else, Mario quickly figured out where the chaos energy was coming from.

"Rogueport," was Mario's one-word answer.

"Rogueport?" Sonic repeated, "What's that?"

"It's the crime capital of the Mushroom Kingdom," Mario explained, "just about every known thief, burglar, and murderer got their start in Rogueport. Don Pianta even has his mafia headquarters set up there."

"Geez, sounds like one of Eggman's casino zones..."

"Right... Gadd, could you zoom in a bit?"

The professor complied, and soon the monitor displayed only the Rogueport region. From here, it was a lot easier to pinpoint exactly where the energy was coming from.

"Hmm... Yep, there it is!" Mario declared, pointing at the red dot on the screen, "The next Emerald Star must be in Petal Meadows, of all places!"

"_That_ certainly doesn't sound very criminal-like..." Tails murmured.

"Well, it's only in the Rogueport region, not part of city itself. However, the only way to reach Petal Meadows is to go through Rogueport."

"Think you can handle it, bro?" Luigi asked, "I mean, what if it's guarded by that Koopa-eating dragon?"

"Heh heh... Don't worry! Hooktail's long dead!" Mario assured, "Besides, if she _did_ somehow return, I still know her weakness."

The red-capped plumber pulled out a small, round, red badge with a musical note on it.

"I don't think this will be much of a hassle," Mario continued, "all we have to do is get there before Bowser or Eggman does! I think we'll be fine if just me and Sonic go."

"But I don't want my Sonikku to get hurt!" Amy protested, grabbing onto the hedgehog's arm, "What if some mean, nasty mugger tries to harm him! He needs someone to protect him!"

"I... I think I'll be fine, Amy..." Sonic mumbled, trying unsuccessfully to shake her hand off.

"I dunno if that's a good idea," Mario replied hesitatingly, "the last time Peach went there, things didn't turn out too well..."

"What happened?" Tails inquired.

Mario looked at Peach, who had a really pained look on her face.

"You don't wanna know..." was all he could say.

"Well... Right then, you heard Mario, Amy!" Sonic began, finally freeing his arm, "The two of us should just do this alone. So Gadd, what's the quickest way to Rogueport?"

"I suppose with you, _running_ is always the fastest way," E. Gadd joked, "but for the rest of us, a ferry at Toad Town harbor charters passage to Rogueport, so I'd suggest that you and Mario should take that."

"That sounds like a good idea!" Mario complimented, "Well, we better get going, then! Bye, everyone! This shouldn't take more than a day or two!"

The duo was about to leave the room, but Tails stopped them.

"Wait! Here, Sonic, take this!"

Tails tossed one of the Emerald Stars they collected to Sonic, who promptly caught it.

"Why would we need that?" Mario asked, "Wouldn't it be safer to leave it here?"

"The Chaos Emeralds used to react to each other whenever they were close to one another," Tails explained, "I'd assume that the Emerald Stars do the same thing. If you take that, you can use it to help you find where the next Emerald Star is hidden!"

"Okay, thanks! Well, Sonic, let's-a go!"

The two heroes left the room, leaving Gadd, Luigi, Tails, Peach, and a rather upset Amy behind.

"Oh... Why does Sonikku have to do all that dangerous stuff?" Amy wondered, "I have to make sure he doesn't get hurt!"

* * *

"Whoa! Look out, Professor!"

Professor Frankly didn't have much time to look and see a huge collection of books dropping from a high shelf that were about to hit him on the head! Using the best reflexes his old, fragile body could give him, the goomba leaped out of the way... or, at least, tried to. Rather, he moved about two inches, fell flat on his face, and got buried under the books anyway. A couple of seconds later, someone quickly moved all the books out of the way and helped the professor up.

"Professor! Are you alright?"

"Yes, yes, I'm fine, Goombella," the old goomba assured, "oh dear... I do fear that this little office of mine is getting a bit too cluttered."

Goombella just rolled her eyes. Professor Frankly, her old archeology teacher at Goomba University, had decided to remain in Rogueport, despite the fact that he had already uncovered the "treasure" rumored to be hidden under the city. While there, he continued to research ancient treasures using the impressive (if not potentially hazardous, as was previously shown) amount of books he accumulated over the years. Goombella, on the other hand, had graduated Goom U, and was now spending her time assisting Frankly in retrieving the said treasures, as he was much too old to go get them himself. At the moment, the two of them were trying to look up information for their next expedition.

"So, Professor, what were you looking for, anyway?"

"Oh, I was just trying to find a few old newspaper articles I keep around..." Frankly responded, "I wanted to make sure that our next treasure trove hasn't already been 'excavated' by that Wario fellow..."

Suddenly, a small ringing sound resonated throughout the small house.

"Uh, oh! That was my Mailbox SP!" Goombella shouted, "I must have a new message! Now, where did I put it?..."

Goombella made her way through the piles of books lying around and eventually reached Frankly's desk. After about a minute of searching around the cluttered surface, she eventually found her Mailbox SP lying under a pile of maps.

"Ah, here we go! Let's see... Oh my gosh! It's an e-mail from Mario!"

"Mario, hmm? You mean the fellow who helped us open the Thousand-Year Door?"

"Duh! Now let me read this..."

Goombella quickly scanned the message over before suddenly grinning with excitement.

"Professor! Mario's coming back to Rogueport!"

"He is now? What for?"

"He said he's looking for something called an 'Emerald Star'!"

"An Emerald Star? Wasn't that the Crystal Star that you two found in the Great Boggly Tree?

"That's right... Either Mario's lost it, or something really strange and exciting is going on! Anyway, he also said he's going to be arriving by ferry and that a friend of his is coming along, too."

"Well then, you better hurry over to the docks to greet him, no?" Frankly suggested, "I should probably stay here and clean things up. Chances are he'll want to have a chat with me."

"Okay! You got it, professor!"

Goombella quickly ran out the front door and hurried over to the docks to meet Mario.

"Heh, heh... She's such a good kid. I knew she would aspire to something great the minute she entered my classroom..."

Professor Frankly turned back to his books and began to try to straighten things up, starting with the huge pile that had just fallen on his head. He had just about finished putting these books away when he heard someone entering the room.

"Back so soon, are we?" Frankly asked, not bothering to turn around.

"I guess you could say that... Buh huh!"

Frankly knew that laugh. Panicked, he whirled around to see a very familiar face.

"What the?... You again? But... But that's impossible!"

* * *

"We will be arriving at Rogueport shortly. Please gather all your personal belongings and prepare to disembark."

Sonic looked up from the magazine he was reading and glanced out the window. Sure enough, the dingy, grimy city of Rogueport was in sight. He turned to his left and nudged a sleeping Mario.

"Yo, Mario! Wake up! We're here!"

"Zzz... Hmph... Wha...?" Mario mumbled groggily as he slowly awoke, "We're at Rogueport already? Dang, I always fall asleep on boat rides..."

"When you're not throwing up, you mean?"

"HEY!" Mario shouted back, turning red with embarrassment, "I don't get seasick!"

"That's not what Gadd said..."

"Oh... Be quiet!"

The boat docked at Rogueport's harbor and the two heroes quickly began grabbing their things. For Mario, it was a small suitcase filled to the brim with various badges like the one he was holding earlier. For Sonic, it was pretty much just the Emerald Star and a doggie bag filled with chili dogs he had the castle's chefs make.

"I still don't get why you need those chili dogs..." Mario stated as he began to walk up onto the deck, "Can't you just get something at the Rogueport Inn?"

"Do they make chili dogs at the Rogueport Inn?" Sonic asked as he shoved one into his mouth whole.

"Um... I don't think so... They make them at Glitzville, but that's too far out of the way..."

"Well then, there you go!" Sonic replied, shrugging, "If they don't make chili dogs, I'll just have to bring my own! I don't see what's so complicated about that."

"Wouldn't it be easier just to... Oh, never mind..." Mario sighed, "Arguing with you is just a lesson in futility."

"Hey, at least I'm better than Knucklehead... So anyway, who is this that you said was going to meet us?"

"Goombella," Mario answered, "She's a goomba gal I met the first time I visited Rogueport. Since she majored in archeology at Goomba U, I figured she would want to help us find wherever this Emerald Star is."

"Makes sense... Although I think I could find the Emerald Star fine without the aid of an archeologist. I mean, hey, _I've_ never needed one before."

"Well, you never know, right? Let's-a go."

The duo went up on deck and walked down the gangplank to the dock. From there, they climbed a few stairs and entered the town square. Like Mario had said, Goombella was waiting for them nearby.

"Hey! Goombella!" Mario called out, "Over here!"

"Mario! Long time no see!" Goombella called back, running over to them, "I got your message and came over here as fast as I could!"

"Yeah, well, ol' Mario here wrote that before he dozed off on the ship," Sonic explained, "so I'm guessing you've been waiting here for... Maybe two hours?"

"What the... HEY!" Mario yelled, "... Um... Oh yeah, this is Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog. He's the friend I was telling you about, although he can be a little rude at times..."

"Nice to meet ya, Sonic!" Goombella greeted, "I've heard a lot about you, actually."

"Huh?" Sonic muttered, "What, does news travel fast around here?"

"No, silly," came a voice from behind Sonic, "it's because I was talking with her!"

Sonic suddenly froze. Nervously, praying it wasn't who he thought it was, he slowly turned around, only to be hugged by an all too familiar pink hedgehog.

"WHAT THE... AMY? WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" Sonic hollered, "I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO STAY AT THE CASTLE! AND HOW DID YOU EVEN GET HERE BEFORE US, ANYWAY?"

"I couldn't let my precious Sonikku get hurt," Amy replied, not loosening her grip at all, "so I persuaded Gadd to let me use his Warp Pipe invention so I could get here before you did!"

"Ugh... And I'm guessing by 'persuading' you mean you threatened him with your hammer?... Gag... Hey!... Let go!... I can't breathe!..."

While Amy continued to nearly crush Sonic's rib cage, Mario turned back to Goombella, who looked a little confused.

"She's a bit of a weirdo, isn't she?" Goombella asked

"Only around Sonic. Otherwise, she's fine."

"Gottcha... Sounds like Goom Goom, if you ask me."

"Right... Now, if you'll excuse me, I better go break up the reunion before something breaks in Sonic's body..."

Fortunately, Mario didn't have to do anything, as Sonic finally managed to free himself from Amy's embrace.

"Geez, Amy..." Sonic moaned rubbing his side, "Have you been working out again? That really hurt!"

"Sorry..." Amy replied sheepishly, "I guess I don't know my own strength sometimes..."

"Heh, heh... Don't worry about it. At least that means those Eggman drones won't stand a chance against you!"

"Eggman?" Goombella repeated, "What kind of name is 'Eggman'? That's sooooo lame."

"It's a long story," Mario responded, "So, does Professor Frankly still live here? I want to talk with him."

"You know, he _said_ you were going to want to see him!" Goombella giggled, "Well, I guess we better head on over. He still lives in that same sad excuse for a house as last time. Come on!"

The plumber, goomba, and two hedgehogs made their way over to Professor Frankly's house. However, once the small home came into view, Goombella quickly realized something was wrong.

"Wait a second... What's up with the Professor's door? Is it... It's kicked in! Uh oh..."

Goombella quickly ran ahead and into the house. Once inside, she let out a loud scream.

"Oh my gosh! Mario! Get in here now! This whole place has been trashed!"

Mario, Sonic, and Amy quickly ran in after Goombella and saw the scene. There was no doubt that someone had broken in. All the bookshelves were empty and their contents were spilled all over the floor. Maps were pulled off the wall and even the desk had been overturned. Even worse, there seemed to be no sign of Professor Frankly.

"Professor? Professor?" Goombella called out helplessly, "Please, Professor, where are you?"

If he was there, he certainly wasn't responding. After a bit of searching, Amy stumbled on a piece of paper that was pinned on the kicked-down door.

"Hey guys!" Amy shouted, "I think I found something! Get a look at this!"

Amy took the note off the door and handed it to Mario, who read it aloud:

_Dear Heroes,_

_Ha ha ha! We have the Professor! If you want to see him again... in the flesh, that is... you better bring all the Emerald Stars to Hooktail's Castle! You can not trace us. You can not find us. You will never figure out who we are! **NEVER!**_

_Sincerely,_

_Scratch and Grounder_

Sonic snatched the note out of Mario's hands, crumbled it up, and tossed it into the nearby yellow trash can.

"Taking an old man hostage? Talk about low!" Sonic sneered, "Of course, since this is those two dumb-bots we're talking about, he could probably escape all by himself..."

"Okay, could someone PLEASE tell me what's going on?" Goombella demanded, "All I know is that you guys are looking for these 'Emerald Stars' and the Professor apparently got kidnapped over them!"

"I'll explain on the way," Mario answered, already heading out the door, "but for now, we've got to get over to Petal Meadows, and fast!"

* * *

"You know, I thought that sidekicks didn't get any dumber than Lord Crump." Professor Frankly growled at his captors, "Did Grodus build you two out of leftover parts from the Magnus Von Grapple?"

"Hey! I resent that!" Scratch snapped, "We are _not_ the two dumbest sidekicks that Sir Grodus built!"

"Yeah!" Grounder agreed, "We're the two dumbest sidekicks that _Dr. Robotnik_ built!"

"And what do you mean that you thought _I_ was the dumbest?" Lord Crump shouted, "I am not dumb! You think that someone who's dumb would be able to operate the Magnus Von Grapple? Or rig the entire Great Boggly Tree with explosives? Huh? Do you?"

"I stand corrected, then," Frankly apologized sarcastically, "you're not dumb, just incompetent."

"Grr... Well, we'll see who's the incompetent one in a moment, won't we?"

Professor Frankly simply resorted to scowling at his kidnappers: Lord Crump, Scratch, and Grounder. At the moment, they were in the highest chamber of Hooktail's Castle, where the mighty dragon herself once dwelled. However, Mario had defeated the monster during his Thousand-Year Door adventure, and her corpse was still lying in this high room. Because of the dragon's tough, scaly exterior, the decaying rate had been rather slow. In fact, Hooktail hardly looked any different than when she was alive.

"So, why are we here, anyway?" Frankly grumbled.

"Ha ha ha!" Scratch laughed, "What kind of question is that? It's _obvious_ why we're here! We're here because... Why are we here, again?"

"I dunno..." Grounder replied, "I thought _you _knew..."

"Oh, for the love of..." Crump groaned, "How did I get stuck with you two idiots? First, you screwed up the ransom note, and now you can't remember why we're here in the first place?"

"Um... No..."

"Sigh... We're here because we're gonna use Hooktail to bring those meddling heroes right to us!"

"Well that's nice," Frankly grumbled, "but I think you forgot something... HOOKTAIL'S DEAD!"

"She is?" Scratch asked, "I thought she was just sleeping..."

At this point, even Crump was starting to get sick of the two robots. Regardless, the X-Naut second-in-command pulled a small jar of syrup out of his vest.

"Oh! Syrup!" Grounder cheered, "Are we having pancakes? I want blueberry!"

"Um... No..." Crump responded, beginning to lose his patience, "This is no ordinary syrup! This is **_Nitro Honey Syrup_**!"

"Oh! Nitro Honey Syrup! Are we having Nitro Honey Pancakes?"

"NO! WE ARE NOT HAVING PANCAKES!" Crump yelled, jumping up and down in place, "STOP ASKING ME ABOUT PANCAKES!... Look, according to the salesperson I stole this from, this syrup is capable of raising the dead. So, without further ado..."

Lord Crump walked over to the dead Hooktail's mouth. Struggling under the weight, he finally managed to pry it open, only to quickly shut it again.

"UGH! Dead dragon breath! Talk about disgusting! Hey, you two! Make yourself useful for once and get over here! I need you to pour the syrup down her throat!"

"What? Why do we have to do all the stinky jobs?" Scratch complained.

"Because you don't have smell receptors, that's why! Now hurry up!"

Grumbling all the while, Scratch and Grounder complied to Crump's request. Retracting his hand and making a car jack appear in its place, Grounder was able to lift up Hooktail's upper jaw with little trouble. Scratch, meanwhile, screwed off the lid of the Nitro Syrup jar and emptied its contents into the dragon's throat. However, nothing happened at first.

"Wow, Crump, that's really something," Frankly mumbled.

"Just give it a moment..." Crump announced in anticipation.

A minute or so passed, but nothing happened.

"Wow, Crump, that's really something..."

Suddenly, something began to make a low, gargling noise. Then, the room began to shake as the biggest object in the chamber, Hooktail's body, started to rumble. This quickly removed the sarcastic grumpiness in Frankly's voice.

"No..." the old goomba gasped, "Impossible..."

Despite Frankly's disbelief, it didn't change what was happening. After the rumbling stopped, Hooktail's eye opened. There was a moment of silence, then the dragon shot her head up and let out a mighty roar. The Nitro Honey Syrup had done its job. Hooktail was alive.


	56. Hooktail's Rampage

"Oh wow, Pedal Meadows is really pretty!"

"Yeah, Ames... Too bad Scratch and Grounder had to go kidnap that professor and ruin things for us!"

Sonic was surveying the outlying area from atop a small rock near the beginning of Pedal Meadows, with Amy standing by his side.

"So, Mario, any idea where those two dumb-bots might have gone off to?" Sonic asked, "You know this place better than us."

"Well, the note said they were waiting at Hooktail's old place," Goombella replied for the plumber, "But seriously, they've sooooo gotta have some sort of trap set up there. I mean really, they aren't _that_ dumb, are they?"

"With those two, you never know..." Mario shrugged, "According to Sonic, they _always_ set up traps... but they usually wind up falling in them themselves."

"Sounds like these two losers aren't anything to worry about, then!" Goombella concluded, "Come on, guys! Let's get going and save Professor Frankly! I can handle anything that comes my way!"

Almost as if on cue, a mighty roar pierced the air. Sonic and Amy were startled by it, but Mario and Goombella quickly looked upwards and saw just what they most dreaded circling around in the sky.

"What the heck?..." Mario mumbled, "... MOMMA MIA!!! IT'S HOOKTAIL!!!"

"Wait a second!" Goombella gasped, "That can't be possible! Didn't we beat her up last time?"

"Um... Now's probably a bad time to ask, but who's Hooktail?" Amy interrupted, who, along with Sonic, was also looking at the flying dragon.

"Hooktail was a nasty dragon that used to be a pet of an evil queen," Mario explained, trying to keep his composure, "since the queen's demise, she spent her time hiding in an ancient castle, coming out once in a while to eat one of the koopas that live in Petalburg, a nearby town. I beat that monster a while ago during my last adventure here, but somehow she's alive again!"

Suddenly, the dragon spied the foursome down below. With another powerful cry, she swooped down towards them, mouth gaping open! At the last second, Sonic managed to rush in and push everyone out of the way. It wasn't graceful, as the end result was everyone sprawled across the ground, but they were at least out of Hooktail's path, leaving the dragon nothing to sink her teeth into besides dirt. Disgruntled, Hooktail flew back up into the atmosphere and prepared for another dive.

"Geez, Dulcy this girl ain't!" Sonic quickly commented, "Okay, I think it's high time we floored it outta here! Hold on!"

Sonic grabbed Mario by the wrist while wrapping his other arm around Goombella, which left Amy a little peeved.

"Hey! Why won't Sonic hold on to _me_?" Amy whined.

"Because you can run _almost_ as fast as me and they can't!" Sonic explained, emphasizing the word 'almost' as if to boost his ego, "Now, let's juice!"

Sonic (and Amy, to a lesser extent) rev'd up and basted off, with Hooktail flying low behind them. As he ran, Sonic made sure to kick up as much dust as possible, sending it right into Hooktail's face.

"Hack! Gag! Ugh!" Hooktail sputtered, choking on the dust, "Pesky little rodent! You wanna be fast food, huh? Fine! I'll show you!"

Hooktail retracted her wings, making her as aerodynamic as a bullet and allowing her to gain plenty of ground on the four fleeing heroes. Adding to the chaos, the dragon belched out a plume of flames, scorching the ground around the runners.

"Whoa! Hey, watch it! You nearly singed my fur!" Sonic shouted, "At any rate, I would rather not be turned into 'Sonic Flambé'. See ya!"

Sonic then began to run even faster, much to the distain of Mario and Goombella.

"Urp! Ugh... Sonic..." Mario moaned, "I'm starting to not feel so good..."

"No kidding!" Goombella agreed, "We better get Hooktail off our case soon or I'm gonna puke!"

However, that would not be the case. In Sonic's haste to get away from Hooktail, he forgot one important thing...

"IEE!!! SONIC!!! HELP!!!"

Sonic did his best to turn around while running and saw Hooktail scooping Amy up into her mouth!

"YIKES! AMY! HOLD ON! I'M COMING!"

Sonic immediately slammed on the breaks and began running the other way, straight at Hooktail. The whiplash clearly wasn't lost on Mario.

"Gag! Sonic, I think you just tore my arm out of its socket!" Mario groaned.

Sonic wasn't listening to Mario's complaints, though. He was too busy staring at Hooktail, who was now attempting to fly off with her prize.

"HEY, YOU BIG LUG! LET GO OF MY FRIEND!"

The blue hedgehog leaped into the air and managed to grab onto Hooktail's foot as she flew into the sky. In doing this, however, he had to let go of Goombella, whom Mario managed to grab with his free arm, leaving the three of them suspended hundreds of feet in the air.

"Hey, um, Sonic..." Mario asked, a little uncertain, "You're probably gonna think I'm crazy, but... What does Hooktail's feet smell like?"

"Let me get this straight..." Sonic began, "My friend has just been eaten by a dragon, we're hanging at least a mile above the ground, and _you want to know what her feet smell like_!?"

"Sigh... Never mind, it's a long story..."

At this point, Mario suddenly remembered what he had told Luigi earlier about if Hooktail returned.

"Sonic! I've got an idea on how to save Amy!"

"You do!? Great! What is it?"

"First, I have to get up on top of Hooktail! Can you get us up there?"

"Hey, I'm made for speed, not climbing! You need Knuckles for that!"

Realizing that Sonic wasn't going to prove helpful in his endeavor, Mario simply managed to pull himself (and Goombella) up over Sonic and onto the top of Hooktail's massive foot. From there, he helped Sonic up as well.

"Alrighty..." Mario sighed with relief after getting everyone to relative safety, "Goombella?"

"Yep?"

"You remember Hooktail's weakness, right?"

"Duh! Of course! Why?"

"Because..." Mario began, pulling out the same red badge he showed Luigi earlier, "I'm about to exploit it again."

"Wait a second... From up here? What if she, like, crashes or something?"

"Um... Good point... I guess we'll have to bail in the landing, then! Whatever it takes to save Amy!"

"Well, I have no clue what's going on," Sonic interrupted, "but if anyone's concerned, I've dealt with crash-landing dragons before, so I'm fine with whatever crackpot plan Mario's got here."

"Heh, heh... Thanks for the support," Mario replied sarcastically, "Now, if you'll excuse me..."

Mario grabbed onto Hooktail's leg and began a dangerous assent up. Thankfully, her scaly body made it very easy for Mario to find things to hold on to as he climbed. Eventually, he made his way onto Hooktail's back and began a brisk, but cautious run towards her head. Unfortunately for Sonic, he couldn't see what Mario was doing from his vantage point, leaving him in the dark about what the plumber was planning.

"Say, Goombella, what's this weakness Mario was talking about?" Sonic inquired.

"Apparently, a while ago, Hooktail ate a cricket and got a horrible stomach ache," Goombella explained, "now, she gets nauseous whenever she so much as hears the _sound_ of a cricket."

"Lovely... So what's Mario gonna do? Make cricket noises?"

"You could say that..."

Meanwhile, Mario had finally reached the top of Hooktail's head. At this point, Hooktail finally noticed his presence and was less than pleased.

"Huh? It's you again! You're the bum that bumped me off! Oh, I'm gonna have a wonderful time eating you!"

"Really now, Hooktail?" Mario taunted, twirling his hammer around, "You'll probably not want to feel like eating in a moment!"

Mario attached the small, red badge he was holding to his overalls and then brought his hammer down on Hooktail's snout. However, rather than making the 'Thunk!' it usually created, it chirped like a cricket. The infamous noise resonated inside Hooktail's head, and she immediately began to feel queasy.

"Urp... No..." Hooktail groaned, slowly turning green, "Not crickets... I think... I'm gonna..."

Suddenly, Hooktail opened her mouth and began to regurgitate stomach juice, partially digested koopas, and an unconscious Amy! Thankfully, she seemed rather unharmed... except for the fact that she was now free falling towards the earth! Mario didn't need to jump after her, though, as Hooktail, too sick to even keep flying, began to nose dive straight down! Unable to keep his balance, Mario tumbled head-over-heels off of the dragon's head and, too, began a devastating freefall. Sonic and Goombella, on the other hand, managed to keep their hold onto Hooktail's foot as they sped closer and closer to the ground. While they were doing this, however, Sonic spotted Amy falling and nearly threw himself out to catch her. Fortunately, Goombella managed to keep him from doing so.

"Whoa! Hey there, are you nuts!?" Goombella shouted, trying her hardest to keep Sonic in place as something without arms can.

"Amy's gonna die if we don't do something!" Sonic countered, "And it will be _my_ fault since I sped off without her!"

Unable to contain it any longer, Sonic finally broke free of Goombella's 'grasp' and leaped towards Amy. Sonic's sudden departure caused Goombella to completely lose her balance and topple over into thin air as well.

"Well, I guess this is it..." Goombella murmured, "At least I'm gonna get a cool death, I suppose..."

However, as the four heroes were freefalling, Hooktail was slowly regaining her composure... and her appetite.

"Ugh... Finally, I think I'm feeling a bit better already..." Hooktail sighed, "Now... Where was I?"

Looking around, the dragon quickly spotted the four fallers. Mario was frantically trying to use his hat as a makeshift parachute (it wasn't working very well), Sonic was holding onto Amy tightly, and Goombella was spinning around wildly like a little brown ball.

"Ah, yes! Now I remember! I have to gobble up these little cretins! And I'm not letting a bunch of... ugh... crickets ruin it this time!"

Hooktail began to flap her wings, causing her to fly down faster than gravity. This made it very easy for her to catch up with the heroes and simply catch them right out of the sky. Interestingly enough, though, she didn't actually swallow any of them. Rather, she simply kept them in her giant mouth. Regardless, it wasn't very comforting either way for them.

"Ugh... Momma mia..." Mario moaned, sitting up in a puddle of saliva, "Is everyone okay?"

"I think so..." Goombella replied. She was currently looking around for her miner's hat, which had fallen off when Hooktail snapped her up. Upon finding it, she promptly put it on, only to have a pint of saliva be poured all over her head, "Although, I think it's going to take more than one shampoo job to get all of this out of my hair..."

"Right... What about you, Sonic?"

Sonic was, at the moment, trying to awaken the still knocked out Amy. Upon failing to do so, he simply laid her down somewhere dry and kept a close eye on her.

"I'm fine, but I'm not so sure about Amy... Geez, if anything happens to her, it will be my fault! I ran ahead of her, and this stupid monster nearly digested her because of it!"

Sonic proceeded to vent his anger by pounding on the gum lining of Hooktail's mouth.

"Wow, Sonic," Mario began, "I didn't know you were so concerned about Amy. I mean, you certainly don't act that way when she's trying to hug you."

"Yeah, I know, but... She's still my friend. I may not be as... obsessive as she is, but I certainly don't want her to get hurt."

While the group contemplated the situation, Mario started to feel Hooktail diving downwards again.

"Huh? What's going on?" Sonic asked, "She's already got us to eat, why's she dive-bombing again?"

"I dunno..." Goombella shrugged, "If she really wanted to eat us, wouldn't just keep us in her mouth. It's like... she's holding us prisoner or something."

"Still doesn't explain what she's diving for, though."

Suddenly, Mario's eyes grew wide with realization.

"If she's holding _us_ prisoner, then she must be going for actual food now... SHE'S HEADING FOR PETALBURG!!!"

* * *

"So, Son, what's it like being _mayor_ of Petalburg?"

"Pretty cool, Dad! It's what I've always dreamed of!"

"Don't you mean _we've_ always dreamed, of Koops?"

"Heh, heh... Right, Koopie Koo..."

Koops, his father, and Koopie Koo were sitting on the front lawn of their house, basking in the sunlight. It had been a while since Koops had gone on his adventure with Mario, and things were starting to calm down a bit. He was reunited with his father, whom he thought long dead, he fulfilled his dream of being mayor of Petalburg, and, most importantly, he finally built up enough courage to propose to the love of his life, Koopie Koo. Looking at his fiancé, Koops let out a satisfied sigh.

"You know, as exciting as my adventure with Mario was, I still find it best just being here in Petalburg, with my Koopie Koo."

"Heh, you two lovebirds really can't think of anything besides each other, can you?" Koops' father asked, "I certainly hope you don't forget about the village!"

"Hey! Don't worry Dad! After all, with Hooktail gone, what's there to worry about?"

Suddenly, an ominous shadow appeared over the trio, looking skywards, Koops quickly recognized the shape that was now blotting out the sun.

"What on earth?... HOOKTAIL!?" Koops screamed, "WHEN DID SHE COME BACK!? I WAS WITH MARIO WHEN WE KILLED HER!"

Needless to say, panic began to fill all of Petalburg. People began to rush indoors, praying that Hooktail wouldn't make them her next meal. Koops' father and Koopie Koo did the same, but Koops stayed outdoors.

"KOOPS! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Koopie Koo shrieked, "GET IN BEFORE HOOKTAIL SEES YOU!"

Koops didn't move, however. Instead, he stood his ground with firm resolve.

"If there's one thing my adventure with Mario taught me, it was courage," Koops responded, more to himself than to Koopie Koo, "I don't care how Hooktail came back, but I am going to defeat her for good. I did it once, I can do it again."

It didn't take Hooktail long to spot Koops, and she immediately flew towards him. Burying whatever fear he still had deep inside him, Koops tucked himself into his shell and began spinning furiously, ready to strike at the dragon. When he felt that she was close, he shot himself forward...

"IEE!!! KOOPS!!! HELP!!!"

Koops immediately recognized the scream of his love, but he couldn't stop himself from rocketing forward in his attempted attack. Rather than hitting the scaly flesh of his foe, however, he wound up smacking his noggin against the wall of a house. He recovered just in time to see Hooktail fly off... With Koopie Koo in her maw!

"KOOPIE KOO!!!" Koops shouted, "YOU MONSTER! GIVE KOOPIE KOO BACK!"

But it was too late. Hooktail flew off into the sky, leaving a distraught Koops behind. Soon afterwards, Koops' father came rushing out of the house.

"Dad! What happened!?" Koops demanded, "I was in my shell, trying to attack that beast! I couldn't see what---"

"Son... Koopie Koo... She didn't want you to fight Hooktail. She was afraid that something would happen to you, so she ran out to get you and..."

He trailed off as he saw his son fall to the ground and begin to cry uncontrollably.

"Son... I'm sorry..."

Slowly, Koops got up. This time, there was a look of sheer determination on his face.

"I already lost you for years to that monster, I'm not about to lose my wife as well..." Koops began, marching towards the front gate of Petalburg, "... I'm going after her. I'm going to slay Hooktail and save Koopie Koo."


	57. Rumble in the Jungle

"Done puking yet, Vector?" Wario grumbled, standing off to the side as he and the rest of the group watched the crocodile loose his lunch.

"Ugh... Leave me alone..." Vector moaned in between regurgitations, "I was queasy enough from riding that accursed taxi cab, but now... I never knew Chaos Control was that nauseating!"

"Heh, heh, join the club," Wario snickered, "it's called the 'I was wimpy enough to throw up during Chaos Control' club, and I believe it's up to two members now: You and that chicken-wuss Flavio."

The fat 'plumber' was quickly silenced by a sudden jab in his backside. Whirling around, he saw Charmy with his stinger poised right at him.

"Stop making fun of Vector," the bee demanded, "or I'll do to you what I did to Bowser!"

"Uh... What'd he do to Bowser?" Wario whispered to Espio.

"You don't want to know," Espio responded.

"Hmm... Assuring..."

Wario then turned his attention to Knuckles, who was standing off a little ways inspecting the Emerald Star.

"Hey, yeah, fuzzball!" Wario called out, "I gotcha your stupid relic back to ya in one piece! Happy now?"

The echidna set the star gently down on the ground and made his way over to Wario.

"You may indeed have..." Knuckles began, "And that may be enough to convince Sonic and Mario to let you back on our side, but _I_ still don't trust you."

"Whaduya _mean_ you don't trust me!?" Wario snapped, "I busted my butt getting that thing back to ya! What's it gonna take, huh? Do I have to go beat up Eggy all by myself or somethin'?"

"Um... Guys..." Charmy mumbled.

"Well, excuse me," Knuckles counted, ignoring Charmy, "but when someone blatantly lies to me and thus causes me to attack an ally, I have a reason not to trust them anymore!"

"Guys..."

"Oh really now? According to that blue pincushion, you seem to listen to Eggman an awful lot! How many times did he say again... I think it was at least five! You sure seem to be rather astute when it comes to choosing whom to trust, eh?"

"GUYS!"

"WHAT!?" Both Wario and Knuckles shouted in unison. Charmy responded by pointing behind them.

"... Where's the Emerald Star?"

The duo whirled around and quickly noticed that the Emerald Star, which was lying there just a moment before, had now disappeared!

"WHAAA!?" Wario sputtered, "WHERE'D THE FREAKIN' EMERALD GO!?"

Everyone franticly looked around, trying to locate the missing artifact, but to no avail. Suddenly, Wario glanced towards the nearby jungle and saw the silhouette of someone running into the tropical forest. From what he could make out, the person looked a lot like someone he met on Flavio's ship... and they were holding the Emerald Star! That was when it hit Wario.

"What the heck?... IT'S THAT FREAKIN' BAT THIEF! SHE STOLE THE STAR! Grr... What's her name again?..."

"Rouge?" Knuckles suggested, who was also starting to get very angry.

"Yeah! That's it! What, you hate her too? Finally something we can agree... HEY! WAIT UP!!!"

Too late. Already, Knuckles was running into the dense foliage in pursuit of the thief, leaving Wario and the Chaotix behind. Judging by the obscenities he was screaming and the way he was 'clearing' the jungle out of his way by punching down the trees, it was pretty clear he was ticked off.

"Whoa, even _I_ don't hate her that much..." Wario muttered, "Say, does he have some sort of vendetta against her or what?"

"He sees her as his rival," Espio explained, "the first time he met her, she was attempting to steal the Master Emerald, and their relationship has been... interesting... ever since."

"Well, yeah, but..." Wario protested, "_I_ wanna beat her up, too! She was annoying! Hey, you three! Why are ya just standin' there! Let's-a go! I gotta get _my_ piece of the action too, ya know!"

And so, Wario ran after Knuckles into the jungle, with Team Chaotix in tow.

* * *

"You thieving bat girl! Give that Emerald Star back!" Knuckles demanded as he began to catch up with Rouge.

"Well, well, long time no see, Knuckles," Rouge replied as she glanced backward to eye her pursuer, "I was wondering if I'd run into you in this crazy place. Must be a small world after all."

"Enough of the small talk, bat! Give me that star back right this instant!"

Rather than comply, Rouge spread her wings and flew off, weaving between trees as she went. The speed and swiftness at which she went would have thrown off any normal person, but not Knuckles. Years of guarding the Master Emerald allowed him to be able to sense chaos energy, so following the Emerald Star was like using radar to him. However, his endurance couldn't last as long as his senses could and he soon found himself slowing down. Before tiring out completely, the echidna stopped and leaned against a tree to catch his breath.

"Phew... Stupid bat girl... Once she gets into the air, there's no catching her!"

Glancing around, Knuckles noticed a bright, blue glimmer coming from a short distance away. Suspecting that it might be the Emerald Star, he made his way towards it.

"Huh? Is that what I think it is? But Rouge couldn't have accidentally dropped it, could she?"

As he reached the source of the light, Knuckles kneeled down and picked up his 'prize': A small, blinking, Christmas tree light.

"What the?... That's strange. How'd this get all the way out--- OPH!!!"

The echidna felt a sharp blow to the back of the head and almost immediately passed out. However, before everything went black, he managed to catch a glimpse of a human female walk up to his limp body and begin to bark out orders.

"Alright, boys, get this furball back to the ship! He may not be who I was looking for, but he'll do for now..."

* * *

"Hey! Dread-head! Where are ya?" Wario shouted as he led the team through the jungle, "Don't tell me ya got lost, you nincompoop!"

"I'm starting to get the impression that _we're_ lost..." Charmy moaned.

"Hey, twerp, shut up or I'll shove your helmet so far up your rear you won't know where it'll come out."

"Ha, I'd like to see you try and get past my stinger!" the bee snapped back, pointing his rear in Wario's general direction.

"Knock it off you two!" Vector demanded, "Seriously, you're like a bunch of six-year-olds!"

"Well, _I _have an excuse," Charmy countered, "I _am_ six! Wario, on the other hand..."

At this point, Wario had enough. Without any warning he grabbed Charmy by the wings and shoved him, rear first, into a tree trunk. Charmy tried to escape, but his stinger was embedded in the tree too much, leaving him stuck there.

"There! That'll teach ya!" Wario laughed as he began to walk off, "Good luck gettin' outta that one, kid!"

"Ugh! Oph! No fair..." Charmy whimpered as he struggled to free himself. Thankfully, Vector walked over and yanked Charmy off the tree.

"Gee... Thanks, Vec. I owe ya one!"

"I think you really owe him about ten at this point," Espio corrected.

"Naw, more like fifteen..." Vector added.

"What?" Charmy protested, "I don't owe... Sigh... Forget I said anything... Say, where'd Wario go?"

The trio looked around. Sure enough, Wario was nowhere to be found. Fortunately, the moist, jungle ground left identifiable footprints of Wario leaving the area, making him pretty easy to track down.

"Oh great!" Vector groaned, "Now _he's_ gone off on his own! Sigh... Come on, boys, let's follow those footprints! The last thing we need is something happening to Wario!"

* * *

He sat patiently in a tree branch high off the ground. Looking down the scope of his sniper rifle, he waited until his target came into view. He knew he heard his voice a short distance away; it was only a matter of time until he could see him as well.

Eventually, the moment he was waiting for arrived. A rather rotund man wearing purple overalls came trudging trough the dense foliage, and he was talking to himself.

"Heh, heh... That oughta hold them up for a while! Who needs those losers anyway? I'll just find Dread-Head and that bat chick myself! I'll get the Emerald Star back, give it to Mario, and we'll call it a day!"

No doubt about it: this was Wario. But what was this about getting the Emerald Star _back_? He recalled Dr. Robotnik saying that Wario _had_ the star... No matter. He liked the thrill of the hunt. It didn't bother him at all if he had to take out another target. In fact, he liked it. For now, though, Wario was right in his crosshairs. He carefully positioned his rifle so that it was aiming right at his targets forehead and began to squeeze the trigger...

"WARIO! GET DOWN NOW!"

In that instant, another person came running into view. A purple chameleon... Espio, a member of Team Chaotix; he encountered them a few times before. What where they doing here? He wasn't about to let this development cause his current target to get away, though. He immediately fired, expecting the deed to be done. However, a lot happened in a course of a second. Espio threw himself on top of Wario, knocking them both to the ground and causing his shot to hit a tree behind them. The chameleon then pulled out a ninja star and threw it right at him! He narrowly dodged the projectile, which only took out a sliver of his fedora. The opportunity lost, he quickly dropped down behind some bushes and fled.

"W... What the heck was that!?" Wario sputtered, "... And get off me, ya perv!"

"I just saved your life and that's how you thank me?" Espio grumbled sarcastically, getting up onto his feet, "No wonder everyone hates you."

"Well, excuse me, but I don't particularly like being glomped by people, let alone those who aren't even my species!"

Espio ignored him and quickly ran off into the forest after the attempted assassinator. Soon after, Vector and Charmy came running up to Wario.

"'Bout time you got here," Wario grunted, "ninja-boy just ran off after some freak who tried to kill me! What took ya so long, eh?"

"Pant... Pant..." Vector gasped, "We were trying to follow you after you ditched us and then Espio just starts running ahead as fast as he could! I think his 'ninja senses' were going crazy or something!"

"Yeah, no kiddin'! Some punk just tried to lodge a bullet in my head! NO ONE MESSES WITH ME LIKE THAT!"

"Someone tired to shoot you?" Charmy inquired, "Vector, do you think this could be?..."

"I don't care who you think this could be! He's gonna pay! Yo, Espio! Wait for me! I wanna beat him up first!"

Wario then ran off after his attacker, leaving Vector and Charmy behind... again. Not wanting to be playing catch-up for a third time, the duo began running off after Wario, much to the still-exhausted Vector's dismay.

"Say, has anyone besides me realized that we've been running an awful lot all of the sudden?" Charmy asked.

"Yeah... I have!" Vector panted, "Ugh... I think I'm gettin' cramps... We shoulda asked Sonic to come along..."

* * *

Wario ran through the jungle as fast as his chubby little legs could carry him. Although he had lost track of Espio, he could clearly see his attacker darting in between the trees ahead of him. Determined not to let him get away this time, Wario began picking up rocks and throwing them at the assailant in hopes of knocking him down.

"Ha! Take this, you jerk!" Wario taunted as he tossed the projectiles, "No one tries to kill me and gets away with it, ya hear me? NO ONE!"

The chase led Wario into a small clearing, where he quickly discovered that he had lost track of his foe. His eyes darted around, franticly trying to locate where the sniper went. The air was deathly still, and it seemed that the entire jungle had suddenly gone quiet.

"Um... Hey... Uh... Where'd ya go?" Wario stammered as he began turning around in place, trying to avoid having his back towards something for too long, "This isn't cool... Erm... Espio? Vector? Bee-brat? Where are ya losers? A little help would be appreci---"

Wario immediately stopped when he heard the sound of a very distinct 'click!' come from behind. Everything seemed to go in slow-motion as he whirled around just in time to see a purple weasel jump out from behind some bushes with a rifle pointed right at him! He didn't have any time to react; the next thing he knew, there was a deafening 'BANG!' as he felt a sharp pain right in his gut. He stood perfectly still for a moment, a look of dumbstruck horror on his face, before falling onto the ground. The last thing he saw before everything went black was Espio appearing out of nowhere (literally) and decking the weasel square in the nose. However, he did not get a chance to see what happened after that, as darkness overtook him.

Author's Note: (slams head against keyboard) ARGH!!! I am SO sorry it took me so dang long to update! Between Christmas (and my obligitory holiday fic), school (midterms, anyone?), and the ten or so Wii/DS games I've been juggling (Big the Cat's theme for the Fiji levels in Excite Truck... My life is complete...), updating my stories has been quite a hassle! Fear not, though, because reguardless of how long it might take me I WILL finish this thing (preferably before I'm on Social Security...)!


	58. The Return of TEC

Koops shuttered as he made his way through the hollow halls of Hooktail's castle. It had been a long time since he had last went through them, and he had Mario by his side that time. However, this time was different: Hooktail was back, and she stole his fiancé. He needed to get her back at all costs, regardless of his fears.

His trip though the castle took a lot less time than it did before, but that was because he remembered the layout from the last time and all the traps had not been reset; there were no surprises getting from the front gate up to the highest tower. Soon enough, he was in front of the large double doors that led to Hooktail's lair.

"Okay, this is it..." Koops told himself, mentally preparing for the inevitable fight ahead, "There's no turning back... Once I go through this door, I---"

Koops didn't get a chance to finish before the door suddenly swung open, slamming him in the face and squashing him against the adjacent wall! After a moment of confusion, he gingerly pushed the door out of his face and looked around its edge. What he saw shocked him.

Walking out of the chamber was none other than Lord Crump, but he certainly wasn't alone. Alongside him, he was dragging a familiar acquaintance of Koops: Professor Frankly! Taking up the rear were two robots that Koops had never seen before, and they seemed to be arguing.

"Yeah! And when Robotnik finds out _I_ was the one who brought that dragon back from the dead, I'll get a promotion!" the taller robot, who looked oddly like a chicken, boasted.

"Wha?... _I_ held her jaw up! _I'll_ get the promotion!" the shorter robot argued.

"You can't get another promotion! You already got one!"

"Can too!"

"Can not!"

"Can too!"

"Can not!"

"Can---"

"WHOULD YOU TWO NINCOMPOOPS JUST SHUT UP!?!?" Crump screamed at the top of his lungs, "I was the one who got the freakin' Nitro Honey Syrup in the first place! If anyone's getting' a promotion around here, it's me!"

"If you ask me..." Frankly grumbled, "_None_ of you are gonna get a promotion. The second Mario finds out that Hooktail's returned, he'll march right over here and kick her scaly---"

"Hey! Not in front of the kids!" Crump interrupted, kicking Frankly to the ground, "We may be a group of evil maniacs trying to take over the world by any means necessary, but at least we don't swear!"

"I dunno..." the stout robot pondered, "I've heard Robotnik say some things he _certainly_ hasn't put in my internal dictionary..."

"I didn't give you permission to talk, you glorified trash can!" Crump shouted, "At any rate, there is no way Mario could succeed!"

"What makes you say that?" Frankly sneered, "Did you steal his Sound FX badges or something?"

"No, you stupid goomba! I just got off the communicator with Grodus, and our little dragon friend is heading up to the X-Naut base, and she has a few _passengers_!"

The expression on Professor Frankly's face looked as though he had just gotten smacked in the face with a frying pan.

"You... You don't mean..."

"You betcha, sucker! Hooktail has that red-capped nuisance, two vibrantly colored furballs, _and_ your favorite little college student!"

"No... Not Goombella..."

"Yes, Goombella! And when that Egg-Dude gets his mitts on her... Buh! Buh HUH! BUH HUH HUH!!!"

And with that, the trio of bad guys dragged Professor Frankly off. When the coast was clear, Koops came out from behind the door and looked up to the sky.

"Hooktail took them all up to the X-Naut base? How could she do that!? Then again, _we_ got up there using a giant cannon... At any rate, I gotta get to that base and _fast_!"

Without any further hesitation, Koops ran off at a very quick pace for a turtle. He knew that the bob-ombs of Fahr Outpost probably wouldn't want to use their giant cannon again, but thankfully, there was _another_ way to reach that moon base...

* * *

"OW! Hey, man, not cool! I'm goin', I'm goin'... There's no need to keep poking me with that stick!" 

"Give it up, Sonic. They'll do that regardless of what you do. The X-Nauts are like that."

"Yeah, Mario, but give me a break here! If he keeps this up, I'll probably wind up paying for an acupuncture session from this guy!"

"Hey, you two!" the spear-brandishing X-Naut who was escorting Mario, Sonic, and Amy to Grodus' throne room barked, "Can it! Sir Grodus will not tolerate idle chit-chat!"

"Good, remind me to keep yapping when I get in there," Amy snapped back, "And what did you do to Goombella and that koopa girl?"

"Koopie Koo," Mario corrected.

"Like that's any of your business!" the X-Naut replied, "For starters, that koopa broad was supposed to be Hooktail's dinner! But you four clowns had to be all noble and keep her from going that dragon's throat, leaving us with an extra prisoner to deal with!"

At this point, the trio of captured heroes were standing in front of the door to Grodus' throne room. The X-Naut pressed a few buttons on a keypad next to the door, causing it to slide open. Without any further ado, the X-Naut unceremoniously shoved the two hedgehogs and a plumber into the room and quickly shut the door again. While Sonic and Amy were preoccupied observing their surroundings, Mario's eyes were staring straight at one thing: the throne at the other end of the room, turned around so that he couldn't see who was sitting in it. However, Mario certainly felt that he knew who it was.

"Heh, heh..." Mario chuckled sarcastically, "Long time no see, eh?"

"Well..." came a voice from behind the throne that sounded _very_ familiar... but for a different reason, "I suppose you could say that..."

The throne spun around, revealing that it was Eggman who was sitting in the chair!

"WHAT!?" Sonic shouted, "_You're_ behind all of this, too!? Man, I liked you a whole lot better when you were King Shahryar..."

"Stop your babbling, hedgehog!" Eggman demanded, "... And what the heck do you mean by King Shahryar? Isn't he some storybook character?"

"Well, it's a long story... You wanna hear it? It should take... Oh, about a thousand and one nights..."

Eggman was clearly not amused by Sonic's banter. He rose from the throne and pointed an accusatory finger at the blue hedgehog.

"You shut up right now, hedgehog, or I'll be more than happy to use you as a test subject for my latest invention!"

"Oh really now? And what would that be, doc? Another WMD that I'll trash in about 2.5 seconds?"

"Ha! You wish! In fact, it's..."

However, before Eggman could go on any further, Sir Grodus came walking up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Now, now, Dr. Robotnik, you don't want to go ruining our little surprise yet, do you?" Grodus joked, enough sarcasm dripping in his voice that one could almost feel it, "Besides, these three idiots could prove very useful."

"Oh yeah!?" Mario shouted, staring daggers at the X-Naut leader, "Go lose your head again, Grodus! There's no way we're gonna be 'useful' to you!"

"You really think that, do you? My, aren't you the stupid one."

Grodus quickly whipped out his scepter and pointed it at the plumber. Before he could react, a blue ray of light shot out and hit him! Mario tried to move, but to no avail: he was frozen in place!

"Like it?" Grodus taunted, "Your newfound friend's nemesis was more than happy to show me the wonders of tractor beams. Now, if you'll excuse me, I believe you have something I want..."

Grodus lifted Mario up into the air, flipped him over, and began shaking him vigorously. After shaking a few lose coins, a mushroom, and about twenty badges out of Mario's pockets, the Emerald Star he was carrying fell to the floor. Grodus quickly changed his target from Mario to the Emerald Star, causing Mario hit the metal floor with a sickening, yet oddly amusing, 'thud!' while the star floated to Sir Grodus' hand.

"So this is a legendary Emerald Star..." Grodus mused, "Most impressive."

"Wait a second!" Amy interrupted, "Why did you go through all this trouble!? Couldn't you have just taken the Emerald Star in Pedal Meadows?"

"Huh?" Eggman asked in mock confusion, "You mean this?"

The doctor held out a small device about the size of an Emerald Star that periodically made a small beeping noise.

"Thanks to the data I was able to retrieve from that Fox-Boy's fake emerald, I was able to make this lovely little beacon that sends out a signal not unlike a Chaos Emerald! All we had to do was plant this out in those meadows and wait for you suckers to fall for the red herring... And right into our little trap!"

"Huh?" Sonic sputtered, "You mean there wasn't any Emerald Star to begin with?"

"Correct, my spiky little friend! It was like taking candy from a baby! And now, Sir Grodus and I can continue with our devious little scheme! I'd love to tell you what that is, but you have a nasty tendency for breaking out and stopping it because you always know _exactly_ what I am going to do. So, to avoid that, I'll leave you three in suspense for the time being. Guards!"

A group of X-Nauts stormed into the room and surrounded the trio.

"Take these prisoners to their cell," Grodus ordered, "oh, and don't worry about being lonely, Mario. There's someone already there that I'm sure you're quite familiar with..."

* * *

Just like before in the throne room, Mario, Sonic, and Amy were dumped into a small room, which was quickly sealed before any of them could even get up onto their feet. After a moment of complete stillness, Mario was the first to get up. Forlornly, he stared at the locked door. 

"Now what?..."

"Well, we gotta get outta here somehow..." Amy suggested, "And we have to find Goombella and Koopie Koo..."

"It's probably too late for that..." Sonic grumbled, "Dang, how could we be so _stupid_? We practically _gave_ Eggman that Emerald Star!"

The three went silent again. It seemed that there was no way out of this one. During their moment of quiet contemplation, another voice suddenly spoke out in the room.

"Mario? Is that you?"

The plumber turned to the far side of the room and gasped. There was a large amount of computer equipment lining the far wall, with a huge monitor in the middle of it all. The screen displayed a sine wave that vibrated whenever it made any noise. Although Sonic and Amy were a little confused by it, Mario quickly recognized who was talking to him.

"Yeah..." Mario replied, "It's-a me, TEC."

"TEC?" Amy repeated, "Who's TEC? The computer?"

"Affirmative," the computer responded, "I am TEC-XX, the world's first perfect computer."

"Heh, and humble, too..." Sonic murmured.

"Quiet, Sonic," Mario hissed, "at any rate... TEC, these are my friends, Son---"

"There is no need for introductions," TEC interrupted, "I am a perfect computer, after all. I already have information about Mobius and all of its inhabitants. The blue one is Sonic, the world's fastest hedgehog, and the pink one is Amy Rose, correct?"

"Um... Yeah..." Mario stammered, slightly confused, "But how did you know that already?"

"When Dr. Robotnik joined forces with Sir Grodus, he uploaded all the information he had onto the moon base's mainframe. Therefore, I was able to download it onto my own CPU."

"Hey, that's pretty cool," Sonic commented, "so, if you're a perfect computer, why don'tcha hack into the system and open this door for us?"

"Unfortunately, I cannot do that..." TEC responded. Although he was monotone, a slight ting of sadness could still be detected in his voice.

"Huh? Why not? You got all of Eggman's stuff off the mainframe. Can'tcha just do the same thing to open the door?"

"When Sir Grodus reclaimed the X-Naut base as his own, he had his assistants build an un-hackable firewall that keeps my programming restricted to the confines of this very computer module. Although I can still _observe_ what is happening within the base and even download files from other computers, I am unable to interact with them in any other way. In a way, I am a prisoner in this room, just like you. I am sorry."

"Don't worry about it, TEC," Mario replied, "although... If you were able to get information from Eggman, tell us: what does Sir Grodus and Eggman plan to do with that Emerald Star?"

There was a long pause before TEC spoke.

"They are going to resurrect the Shadow Queen."

Mario's reaction was so violent, Sonic and Amy backed off in surprise and shock.

"RESURRECT THE SHADOW QUEEN!?!? HOW CAN THEY DO THAT!?!? I ALREADY KILLED HER!!!"

"That may be true," TEC explained, still as calm as ever, "but spirits are eternal. Because the Emerald Star is seven times more powerful than either a Star Spirit or a Chaos Emerald, they believe that they can use just one to open the Thousand Year Door and bring the Shadow Queen back from the dead."

"But didn't Grodus learn last time that messing with that demon is dangerous? He lost his head over it! Literally!"

"This is where Dr. Robotnik plans to change things. He hypothesizes that, if a spirit possesses a physical being when the being is roboticized, then the spirit will be under his control as well. Therefore, he plans to have the Shadow Queen accept her sacrifice to take on physical form and then roboticize her."

"But... But will that even work!? And how does he plan on leading her into a roboticizer, anyway? She's not stupid."

"Sadly, I do not know these things, for they were not included in Dr. Robotnik's files."

"Whoa..." Sonic began, almost chuckling to himself, "So these two clowns are gonna try and bring back a demon, and then _roboticize_ her? No offense, but that's just crazy!"

"I don't know about Eggman's part, but Grodus did it before..." Mario sighed, "And he even gave her a sacrifice so she would have a physical form. There's no doubt he would be able to do it again."

"And what's all this talk about a sacrifice?" Amy asked, "Who'd he give to her the first time, anyway?"

Mario let out a huge sigh.

"Peach."

"Peach?" Amy gasped, "You mean Peach got possessed by that demon?"

"Yep... That jerk Grodus gave Peach to that demonic queen! The Shadow Queen... She... She took over Peach's body!... That... was the most painful battle I ever fought..."

There was another long moment of silence before anyone spoke up again.

"Well, she's safe and sound over in the castle, right?" Amy assured, "If he doesn't have her, he can't do that sacrifice! I mean, he can't use anyone else, right?"

Suddenly, Mario's eyes got as big as saucers. Realization had hit him. He knew who Grodus was going to use. He turned to face his two friends, but before he could say anything, the door behind them opened up.

"Huh?" Sonic mumbled, "Who's there?"

Standing before them in the doorframe was what looked like a goomba. However, it was made out of metal and had red, fiber-optic eyes that simply glared straight ahead at the trio. The worst part about it, though, was what it was wearing: a metallic miner hat.

"No..." Mario gasped, "It can't be... It's Goombella... She's been _roboticized_!"

**Author's Note: You know, I was gonna have this updated within the month. I really was. However, right as I was about to go about doing that, my school suddenly whisks me away on a week-long "College Tour" to go see just about every ding-dong university this side of the Mississippi. The most important thing I learned: NEVER live in a dorm that has community showers! Trust me on this one!... At any rate, I'll try to plan ahead a little better next time.**


	59. Busting Outta the Base

Mario didn't even get a chance to fully react to his friend's transformation before Sonic suddenly leaped in front of him.

"Eggman's _got_ to be joking, right?" Sonic asked mockingly, "He roboticized a _goomba_? Heh, I'll have her outta that metallic shell in a Sonic second!"

He then curled up into a ball and proceeded to do just that. After charging his spin-dash, he rocketed forward at high velocity and smashed right into Mecha Goombella. After the dust settled, all that was left was a triumphant Sonic, a dazed but unharmed Goombella, and a huge pile of robotic parts.

"Whoa..." Goombella moaned, "That was... trippy... What just happened?"

"No time to explain!" Mario interrupted, "We have to reclaim the Emerald Star and get everyone out of there _now_!"

Noticing that the door was still open, the four heroes quickly exited the room and made their way down the corridors of the X-Naut base. Surprisingly, they faced little resistance from the foot soldiers as they went.

"Seriously, though, what was Eggman thinking?" Amy asked as they continued to sprint down the hallways, "Didn't he know that Sonic could smash through that robot exterior and escape easily?"

"Yeah..." Mario agreed, "He would have to be a complete idiot to have sent one robot... a goomba robot, for that matter... in there!"

* * *

"Lord Crump, did I ever tell you that you are a complete idiot?"

Crump stood in the throne room nervously. Despite the fact that he had just reported that Mario, Sonic, and Amy had escaped, Grodus was staying calm. Then again, that was usually a very _bad_ sign.

"Well... Um... You see..." Crump tried to explain.

"Did anyone give you permission to send that robot goomba girl in there? Doctor Robotnik specifically made those robots as work drones use _only_, not as attack bots!"

"But I figured that... You know... It would really create some sparks... Since they wouldn't want to hurt their friend but they would have to if they wanted to survive. It was supposed to create _drama_!"

Eggman, who had stayed relatively quiet up to this point, began jumping up and down like a spoiled brat and yelling at the X-Naut second-in-command.

"There is no drama in fighting those robots, you nincompoop! I've only got _one_ roboticizer that directly transforms flesh into metal, and that's over in Robotropolis! All the rest simply encase the victim inside a metal shell! There's no fear of harming the subject inside when you smash the robot; they're simply freed, and Sonic darn well knows that!"

"Ohhh..." Crump gulped in sudden realization.

"And now, thanks to you and your 'drama', we've got two furballs, a human, and whatever-the-heck a goomba is running lose in the base! Great going, you moron!"

"Uh... Don't worry about a thing, your highness!" Crump assured, saluting to Sir Grodus, "I'll recapture those brats and haul 'em back to their jail cell!"

Crump was about to turn and leave when Grodus intervened.

"You're out of second chances, Crump."

"Erm... What was that?"

"You've made a fool of me too many times. I am sick of it, and I am through with you. I command that you leave this base and never return. Now, get out!"

There was a stillness in the air as Crump tried to contemplate his sudden firing. After a few awkward moments, the former X-Naut commander gave a final salute.

"As you wish, Sir Grodus..."

Crump turned and began to make his exit.

"... You jerk," he mumbled under his breath as he left the room.

Once Lord Crump was gone, Grodus turned his attention back to the problem at hand.

"So, Dr. Robotnik, I assure that you had something prepared in case this happened?"

"Of course," Eggman replied, "I never leave out the possibility that my stubborn little spiky-haired nuisance will escape, although I must admit that I wasn't expecting it to happen on such... unintelligent circumstances. Nevertheless, I believe our friends will come across many a surprise if they hope to get out of here alive..."

* * *

Crump continued to sulk down the hallways that made up the X-Naut base. He simply couldn't believe it. How could he be fired? He was Lord Crump! The infamous Lord Crump! The man who almost blew up the Great Boggly Tree, nearly claimed the Emerald Star from the cursed pirate island, and got oh-so close to defeating Mario within the base itself! With such an incredible track record like that, how could he _possibly_ be laid off?

"Grr... It's all that stupid Robotnik's fault!" Crump concluded, "Ever since that egg-shaped idiot showed up, he's practically taken over my job! Heck, Grodus considers him his _equal_! Did he ever say that about me? Nooooo..."

He continued to gripe until he reached the maintenance bay. Glancing inside, he noticed the Egg Walker, the vehicle that had somehow bested his Magnus Von Grapple. Suddenly, a plan began to form in his mind.

"Ah, of course! I'll show 'em! I'll steal his precious little mech and use it to catch those prisoners! When they find out how awesome I really am, they'll be _begging_ to let me come back! It's brilliant! I'm a genius!"

Looking around to make sure no one was watching, Crump snuck into the maintenance bay before quickly poking his head out again and pointing at the 'Fourth Wall'.

"And you! Sitting in front of the computer! Don't go telling anyone about my little scheme or else... Or else I'll strap you to a chair and force you to play _Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon_! Buh huh! Buh HUH! BUH HUH HUH!!!"

"Um... Dude, who are you talking to?"

Crump immediately stopped laughing and noticed the X-Naut who was walking by with a confused expression on his face.

"Uh... No one..." Crump replied, "... Go away."

"Right... Whatever, dude..." the X-Naut sighed as he walked off.

Glancing around to make sure no one else was going to drop in unexpectedly on him, Crump quickly returned to formulating his devious plot.

* * *

"Man, these corridors just go on forever, huh?"

"Don't worry, Sonic, I've been here before. I know where we're going."

"Yeah, but I think that Eggman guy made a few additions since we were last here."

"You're not helping, Goombella."

The quadruplet made their way down the sprawling hallways, trying to find either the Emerald Star or a way out. Unfortunately, Goombella was right: The base had been added upon since the last time Mario had visited, making the maze-like building even more confusing. Right when things started to look really hopeless, a sudden scream began to resonate through the halls.

"HEY! LET GO OF ME, YOU FREAKS!"

Mario and Goombella recognized the voice immediately.

"Koops!" they both shouted in unison.

"Koops?" Amy repeated, "Who's Koops?"

"He's a friend of ours," Mario explained, "he was with us on our first Thousand Year Door fiasco, but what's he doing here?"

"Well... Koopie Koo got scooped up with us right?" Goombella recalled, "Maybe he came here to rescue her? I mean, I know he isn't the bravest koopa on the face of the earth, but come on... She's his _fiancé_! What _wouldn't_ one do for their love?"

"At any rate, it sounds like your friend's in trouble!" Sonic concluded, "We gotta help him! Let's juice!"

Sonic blasted off in the direction of the yelling, with Mario, Goombella, and Amy in tow. A few seconds later, the group stopped at a corner and cautiously peeked around it. In the adjacent hall, Koops was being hoisted up by the front of his shirt by Scratch, with Grounder standing nearby.

"Well, lookie here!" Scratch taunted, "It looks like Mr. Hero here thought he could save his girlfriend!"

"Fiancé..." Koops hissed.

"Whatever... I think we should bring him to her. What do you say, Grounder?"

"I dunno..." Grounder mused, "I mean, she's... You know... Robo---"

"Shut up, you doofus! You're gonna ruin the surprise!" Scratch interrupted, slamming his counterpart over the head with his free hand, "Now, we gotta get him over to you-know-where before..."

"Before I crash the party?"

The dubious duo turned and saw none other than their blue nemesis, Sonic the Hedgehog, along with Mario, Goombella, and Amy, standing at the far end of the hallway. Needless to say, Koops was happy to see them.

"Mario!" the koopa cheered, "It's you! And Goombella! And... Uh... Who are the other two?"

"I'm Sonic! Sonic the Hedgehog!" Sonic introduced, "Now, if you'll excuse me, dumb and dumber here need to get their daily smashing!"

Sonic began to spin-dash, but before he could tear through Scratch and Grounder for the umpteenth time, the robotic chicken quickly handed his prisoner off to his 'brother'.

"Waa! Hey, you!" Scratch demanded, "Take this stupid brat to the roboticizer! I'll hold these guys off!"

"Okie dokie!" Grounder agreed, "One robotic turtle, coming right up!"

Grounder then revved off as fast as his treads could carry him.

"Heh, a delay tactic, huh?" Sonic sneered, still in spin-dash mode, "That's about the only thing you're able to pull off successfully!"

He then rocketed forward, expecting to shred Scratch easily. However, he was in for a shock when he found himself simply bouncing off of the robot!

"What the!?..." Sonic gasped, "Hey, what's goin' on?"

Suddenly, a small swarm of creatures that looked like little grey 'X'es began to float around Scratch.

"Ha ha ha! Do you like 'em?" Scratch asked, "I borrowed them from those X-Naut guys! They call 'em Mini-X-Yux, and as long as I got 'em, I'm invincible!"

"Aw man... I hate those guys," Mario groaned.

"Well, you're only invincible when you got them," Sonic stated, "so I guess I'll just have to get rid of 'em!"

And with that, he leaped into the air and did his infamous homing attack off of every last one of them. Within seconds, they were all gone. However, a few seconds later, more simply respawned!

"Hey! No fair!"

"I shoulda warned you..." Goombella mentioned, "Those things come back _fast_."

"_Now_ you tell me!" Sonic moaned.

"Ha ha ha!" Scratch continued to laugh, "No even _you_ are fast enough to get rid of all of them and hit me! What a dolt!"

"Hey, there's no way I'm going to let _you_ outsmart me!" Sonic declared, "That'd be like losing a footrace to Big the Cat!"

Once again, the blue hedgehog began another spin-dash, but this time, rather than shooting straight at Scratch, he shot up into the ceiling.

"Ha! You missed me by a mile!" Scratch taunted, "You need some glasses, dummy?"

Before he got any reply, a loud buzzing sound could be heard. Looking upward, Scratch noticed that Sonic was sawing a huge chunk of metal off the ceiling... a chunk right above the chicken's head.

"Uh... Uh oh..."

Suddenly, the roof came crashing down, crushing Scratch, Mini-X-Yux and all.

"Who's the dummy now?" Sonic mocked, standing right on top of the rubble, "Hmm... You held me up for... oh, about a minute. Not bad for a delay tactic."

"Sonic!" Mario called out, already running past Sonic and down the corridor, "We gotta help Koops! You heard what Scratch said! Grounder's taking him to the roboticizer! We gotta stop him!"

* * *

"Where's Koopie Koo!? What did you do to her!?"

Despite all of Koops pleads, Grounder didn't answer any of his questions, partly because he wanted to see him suffer but mostly because he didn't know, either.

"Don't worry, you're gonna see her... I think," Grounder replied, "now, where's that roboticizer?..."

Unsure of where the infernal machine was, Grounder started blindly entering rooms in hopes of it being the right one. After stumbling into the kitchen, the bathrooms, and the walk-in freezer (whereas he nearly got flattened by a giant snowball), he eventually found the room that housed the roboticizer. Even better, there was a certain someone already inside.

"Oh goodie!" Grounder cheered, "I found it! And guess what? Your girlfriend's in there, too!"

"Really? Koopie Koo?" Koops asked, genuine hope filling up within him, "Can I see her?"

"Sure thing, sucker!"

With that, Grounder tossed the koopa into the room and quickly shut the door. The room happened to be very dark, so it took Koops a moment to adjust to the light (or lack thereof).

"Uh... Koopie Koo?..." Koops called nervously, "Are you there? Please... answer me..."

Suddenly, Koops felt something hard and cold grab his throat and squeeze tightly. Struggling for breath, he managed to turn and see his attacker, which nearly caused his heart to stop. Staring back at him, with red, metallic eyes, was Koopie Koo... roboticized.

"K-K-Koopie K-K-Koo..." Koops gasped, "W-W-What did they do to you?..."

All Koops got for a reply was a very hard throw that sent him flying into what felt like a glass wall. By the time he recovered, he found himself encased in a giant glass tube with no way to escape. All he could do was pound on the glass and watch helplessly as his fiancé began inputting commands on a huge dashboard, undoubtedly getting the roboticizer warmed up.

"NO! PLEASE! KOOPIE KOO! SNAP OUTTA IT!" Koops cried, "DON'T DO THIS TO ME!"

It was too late. Already, a green glow began to rise up from the floor. Electricity began to spark throughout the room, lighting it up somewhat. As the light began to envelop him, Koops simply closed his eyes and awaited his fate...

BANG!

The door to the room suddenly blasted open, letting light pour in from the outside. In an instant, a blue streak rushed into the chamber. First, it hit off the dashboard, bringing the roboticizer to a screeching halt. Then, it smashed right into Koopie Koo, causing a massive explosion. Koops didn't even get a chance to cry out before the streak suddenly charged at him. What happened next almost seemed instantaneous: one moment, he was inside the roboticizer, the next, he was standing out in the hallway, right next to Mario and Goombella.

"Whoa... Wha... What happened!?" Koops sputtered, "I... I was in that thing and... What's going on!?"

"Koops?... Is that you?..."

Koops turned and saw Koopie Koo, somewhat dazed but otherwise fine, standing a short distance away.

"KOOPIE KOO!!!"

In an instant, he was by her side, giving her a warm embrace. Now, it didn't matter to him what had just happened or how he escaped or even who helped him. All that he cared about was that Koopie Koo was safe.

"Koopie Koo..." he whispered, "You're safe..."

"And so are you..." she replied, "You came all this way just to rescue _me_?"

"Yeah, I did, my Koopie Koo..."

The two when quiet after this and simply held on to each other, not wanting ever to let go.

"Actually, _I_ was the one who saved her..." Sonic grumbled, but no one was really listening.

"Aw..." Amy sighed, "It's so _romantic_! Why doesn't Sonic ever do that with me?"

"Want me to list a few reasons?" Goombella suggested.

Mario, however, simply let out a huge sigh.

"Phew! I'm glad that we took care of _that_!" the plumber said, "We reunited the love-struck couple, and now we've got Koops on our side, to boot! I say we're doing pretty good! Come on, guys! Let's reclaim that Emerald Star and get outta here!"

Feeling confident, Mario walked over to a nearby door and opened it.

Almost immediately, all his confidence faded.

On the other side of the door was a huge domed chamber that almost looked like an arena. Inside it was a giant, robotic dragon. Its hide was made up of riveted metal and its joints consisted of a huge collection of gears that allowed it to move. Its eyes, rather than being the usual glowing red of a roboticized victim, were two giant pressure gauges, the needles inside jumping left and right sporadically. With a mighty roar that drew the attention of everyone (including Koops and Koopie Koo), it bellowed out a mighty plume of blue flame that would've incinerated anything that had gotten in its way. It didn't take a genius to figure out what had happened: Hooktail had been roboticized.

"Uh..." Sonic mumbled, obvious panic in his eyes, "Say, Mario? You might wanna take back that 'doing pretty good' line, 'cuz this doesn't look good _at all_."

* * *

**Author's Note: Hey, guys! I think I might have actually made my deadline this time! Sweet! Anyway, in case you haven't heard the BIG news, they're really making a Mario/Sonic crossover game! No joke! I'd give you a link, but fanfiction doesn't like that for some reason. Just Google it, I'm sure the offical website will be one of the first responses! Cool, huh? Of course, storyline-wise, it's gonna fly right into the face of what I'm writing here, but let's ignore that, shall we? All I know is that they have to throw Sonic in Super Smash Bros. Brawl _now_! Weeeee!!!... Erm... I mean... Wiiiii!!!**


	60. Treasure Hunter vs Bounty Hunter

"Are you _sure_ he's gonna be alright?"

"Of course! The TUNA never fails at repairing otherwise irreversible damage! If it can turn an apple core back into an apple, it can heal a gunshot wound to the chest! I know these things! I am, after all, a scientist!"

"I still think that thing looked too much like a roboticizer for my tastes..."

"Yeah... How do we know you're not just some Eggman crony?"

"Hey! Don't you diss my grandpa! He's one of the greatest scientists around!"

"Alert! Alert! He's regaining consciousness! Rock on!"

As Wario's vision slowly became focused, he quickly realized that he wasn't outside anymore. Rather, he was in what looked like a bedroom, and he was lying in the bed! Groaning and rubbing his head, he tried his best to sit up and look around. The first thing he saw was Charmy, who flew up to him until he was about an inch away from his face.

"Whoa! Wario! You're not dead! Awesome!"

"What the!?... Get away from me, you stupid brat!" Wario shouted, swatting the bee away with his hand, "What's going on here!? Where's that stupid weasel who shot me!? I DEMAND ANSWERS!!!"

With Charmy out of his direct line of vision, he discovered that the bee wasn't the only one who was apparently waiting for him to awaken. Surrounding the bed were not only the other two members of the Chaotix, but a few other familiar faces of Wario's: Dr. Crygor, his karaoke robot assistant Mike, and his granddaughter Penny!

"Huh? Doc? Is that you?"

"You know this nutcase?" Vector interrupted.

"Heck yeah! This is Dr. Crygor!" Wario explained, "Yeah, he acts like a freak and his body in that spandex is gonna make someone gorge their eyes out so they don't have to look at it someday, but, you know, I think he just kinda saved my life and all, so that says something!"

"That you'd fire him if he didn't?" Espio murmured under his breath, "He already mentioned that he works for you..."

"I heard that, needle nose," Wario snorted, "don't you have to go throw yourself off a cliff for ninja training or something?"

Espio remained quiet, so Wario turned his attention back to Dr. Crygor.

"So Doc, how'd you get in the picture anyway?" Wario asked, "I knew you had your 'secret' (yeah, right) lab hidden in this jungle and all but... What, did you smell Vector's bad breath all the way from here and came to investigate?"

"Not exactly..." Dr. Crygor responded, "While I was in the middle of one of my very scientificky experiments, Mike came up and informed me that he picked up the sound of gunfire within the jungle."

"Affirmative!" Mike agreed, tapping one of the two microphones on top of his head, "These mics are ROCKIN'! They can pick up anything that comes out of the jungle!"

"And so," the doctor continued, "the two of us went out to investigate, while Penny made sure my experiment didn't... ahem... run off."

"RUN OFF!?" Vector repeated, "What the heck is _that_ supposed to mean!?"

"Don't worry," Penny assured, "it's just a mouse... A mouse injected with the juice of a fire flower and quite possibly containing the ability to burn this entire lab down, but it's still just a mouse."

She then held up a small cage that held a tiny mouse with florescent orange fur.

"I call him 'Fireball'. Wanna pet him?"

"Uh... That's okay, but I'd rather not need skin grafts on my hands..." Vector declined.

"Alright already, enough with the filler here!" Wario interrupted, "Seriously, it's like some lame attempt to make a fanfic chapter longer or something! Anyway... After you two set out, what happen? You just find me?"

"For the most part," Crygor replied, "however, when we first ran into your new friends, we didn't exactly hit off..."

"Say what!? They are NOT my friends!" Wario corrected, "They're my unwanted entourage. They think they'll look cooler if they hang around with me. Normally, I'd tell them to flip off, but I have more class than that."

"No you don't..." Charmy mumbled.

"Shut up, helmet head. You are even _less_ of a friend of mine than those other two losers! We're talking negative numbers here!"

Charmy, showing his (im)maturity, simply stuck his tongue out at Wario.

"Whatever, you little twerp. Now, Crygor, you were saying that these idiots did something stupid when you showed up..."

"Well, apparently, the fact that half my body is cryogenic and I have a robot assistant didn't go over well with those Chaotix fellows..."

"Don't tell me..." Wario moaned, "They thought you were Eggman's long-lost brother."

"Precisely!" Crygor confirmed, "Thankfully, my robotic head protected me from most of the blows."

"Great going, you morons..." Wario sneered at the Chaotix, "So tell me, how _did_ you become detectives anyway? Did you win it in the Stupid Raffle?"

"Hey! It's not our fault!" Charmy protested, "He looks like a bad guy!"

"Oh yeah, because wearing spandex and having a robot that's only good at singing is an obvious sign of pure evil..."

"As I was saying..." Crygor continued, starting to grow slightly impatient at all the interruptions, "After I managed to convince them to stop hitting me with fists, stingers, and ninja stars, we carried you back to my lab and threw you into the TUNA."

"Uh... The what?" Wario sputtered.

"The TUNA," Penny explained, "the Tri-phonic Undulating Nanobot Automation. My grandpa made it to restore damage inflicted on living objects, such as turning an apple core back into a full apple! It only took a few modifications to make it undo the damage done with that gunshot!"

"I didn't get a word you just said, but I think the gist is that your old man saved my butt with one of his inventions..." Wario mused before looking back at Dr. Crygor, "For that, I shall give you a raise! I'm gonna double your salary!"

"Excellent!" Crygor cheered, "... But wait... Zero times two is..."

"Eh, no need to thank me! I'm great, I already know."

As Wario paused for a moment to contemplate the situation, another sudden realization hit him like a frying pan to the face.

"WAIT A SECOND!!! WHERE'S THAT STUPID IDIOT WHO SHOT ME!?!? I know I saw ninja-boy punch his lights out and I need to _thank_ that little jerk..."

"No need to worry about that!" Crygor assured, quickly forgetting Wario's rip-off of a raise, "I have that attempted assassinator incarcerated in the bathroom!"

"Oh good... Wait a sec... You have him _where_?"

* * *

The TUNA's beneficial effects on Wario were undeniable. Under normal circumstances, the greedy CEO and treasure hunter would've still been bed-ridden, if even alive. However, he was now walking around with the Chaotix and his small posse of madcap employees to go check up on their 'prisoner'.

"So..." Wario began, glaring at Vector, "_Who_ did you say this guy was?"

"Nack the Weasel," the crocodile explained, "but he likes to call himself 'Fang the Sniper' as a sort of code name or nickname or whatever. Regardless, he's a treasure/bounty hunter who will do pretty much anything for cash and he has no trouble with double-crossing people."

"Kinda like you!" Charmy added, pointing right at Wario.

"Yeah, whatever..." Wario grunted, "At least I don't shoot people, so shut up."

"We've been chasing after him for quite some time, actually," Espio continued, ignoring the side comments, "whenever he gets a 'hit' on someone, we're usually the first ones after him, but he always seemed to get away... Until now."

The group approached the 'prison cell' while Dr. Crygor pulled out his keys.

"So, uh… Why do you even _have_ a lock on your bathroom door?" Wario asked, "You lock people in your bathroom often?"

"No one is allowed to question my bathroom habits!" Crygor countered, oddly defensive about the subject, "All who do become test subjects in my next experiment!"

"Okay…" Wario trailed off. He quickly leaned towards the Chaotix and whispered, "I told ya he's slightly unscrewed."

"_Slightly_?" Espio repeated.

As soon as Dr. Crygor opened the bathroom door, he let out a scream that could've shattered glass, causing Wario and the Chaotix to stumble backwards at the sudden outburst.

"Wha… What happened!?" Vector sputtered, "Don't tell me he escaped!"

"Uh…" Crygor answered, sweating bullets where his head wasn't metal, "… I can't tell you that…"

Dreading that Crygor meant exactly what he thought he meant, Vector shoved the mad doctor out the way and took a look inside. There were about twenty or so rolls of toilet paper that had been stacked on top of the toilet seat, reaching all the way up into a ventilation shaft in the ceiling. Apparently, Fang had climbed up all of them and made his escape!

"You gotta be kiddin' me!" Wario groaned, "That furry retard escaped!? I wanted to pound him good for, you know, trying to KILL me! Yo! Crygor! Where does this shaft lead to?"

"Well… If my calculations are correct, and they are precisely 99.99999 of the time, that air vent leads directly to the outside."

"… And we have no clue how long it's been since he made his escape…" Espio added, "At this rate, he could be anywhere on the island."

"Aw man…" Charmy whined, "We had him and then we _lost_ him!? That stinks!"

"You know, for once, I actually agree with that little punk!" Wario declared, "This DOES stink! Come on, losers! What are we watin' for!? When I get my hands on that weasel, I'm gonna pound him into a fur rug!"

* * *

Rouge stopped flying and looked around. She had been 'fleeing' from Knuckles (although, in her eye, she was _letting_ him chase her so she could taunt him) for the past few hours. However, things had been unusually quiet for the last hour or so. At first, she figured that the echidna had simply stopped making a lot of noise in an attempt to sneak up on her, but this was much too long a pause in the commotion, especially for someone like Knuckles.

"Knuckles?" Rouge called out, "Aw, come on, don't tell me you've given up already! I could keep this up all day if you wanted to!"

No response. Hoping to get a better view, Rouge flew up onto a tree branch and looked down at the jungle floor below. However, there was still no sign of Knuckles anywhere.

"Did that hotheaded echidna actually give up?" she wondered aloud to herself, "That's not like him at all…"

Pondering the situation to herself, the bat pulled out what had initiated the chase to begin with: the Emerald Star.

"I thought for sure this was one of those silly magical treasures he's always whining about. I mean, that Wario character was able to Chaos Control with this! Oh well, I guess it must've not been that important to him if he just---"

BANG!

Rouge just barely managed to dodge the rifle bullet as it rushed past her, gazing her arm. While it certainly didn't hit her, it was enough of a shock to make her lose her balance and fall off the tree. However, she was able to spread her wings and make a graceful descent onto the jungle ground. Despite her majestic landing, though, her mind was racing furiously.

"Dang it! What the heck was that!?" Rouge shouted.

She didn't get a chance to figure anything out before she heard the undeniable 'click!' of another round being loaded. Almost immediately after, another shot was fired, but this time, she was ready. She nimbly dodged the bullet and flew back up into the air. From this vantage point, she quickly spotted her attacker, hiding behind some dense foliage.

"Hey! Think you're so clever?" Rouge called down to him, "Why don't you come out and fight hand to hand, you coward?"

Her reply was another round of gunfire, but she once again dodged it.

"Alright, then, if you won't come out on your own, I'll make you come out! DRILL DIVE!"

Rouge brought her feet together and began to simply let herself free-fall to the surface. As she began to pick up speed, she started to twist her body until it began spinning around like a giant drill. Soon, all that could be seen of her was a giant, pink-and-purple tornado that was quickly descending towards her target.

The final result was nothing short of impressive. She hit the earth like a comet, sending her assailant flying a few feet, right into a tree. Although she had been spinning around feverishly only moments before, she wasn't in any way dizzy. Her opponent was a different story: He slowly wobbled to his feet, allowing Rouge to easily get a good view of him.

"Hmm? Nack the Weasel?" Rouge asked in disbelief, "Is that you?"

"Ugh… Hey, It's 'Fang the Sniper,' lady," the purple weasel sneered, despite still being off-balanced, "#1 hitman in the Mobian Underworld. I suggest you give me a little more respect and call me that, got it?"

"Hmph, sorry, but I only call people by the name on their wanted poster," the jewel thief snapped back, "looks like that nickname isn't all that popular after all, if the cops don't even call you that."

"Watch it, broad, or I'll give you another hole to hurl insults out of," Fang warned, aiming his rifle at Rouge.

"Ha, you couldn't even hit me when I _didn't_ know you were here! What makes you think you can shoot me now?"

"Quantity over quality, lady," Nack explained, cocking his gun, "what do you think your odds are if I let off about a hundred shots in the next five minutes? One's bound to hit you, that's a safe bet."

If Rouge was scared, she certainly wasn't showing it. She simply continued to stare daggers at her attempted killer. During the stand-off Fang noticed the Emerald Star she was holding.

"Hey, look, maybe I can let you off easily, if you want to," the bounty hunter offered, "my client only wants that shiny little rock you're holding. Give it to me, and I'll let you go without any extra lead in your body."

There was a long pause as Rouge thought over her options. Eventually, she slowly walked over to Fang, Emerald Star in her outstretched hand. Confident that he had made his point, he took his one hand off the gun and reached out to grab the artifact. However, at the last second, Rouge pulled the star back and proceeded to deliver a hard kick right between the sniper's legs.

"That's what I think of your deal, you creep!" Rouge yelled before running off.

"GAH!!!" Nack screamed in pain, nearly doubling over, "WHY YOU LITTLE… Alright, that does it! Now you're gonna get it!"

Fang whipped out his rifle again and began running after Rouge, letting off shots whenever he got the chance. However, Rouge was able to dodge each and every one, occasionally taking to the skies and weaving between the trees.

"Grr… Quit moving, broad! Can't you see I'm trying to _hit_ you!?" Fang shouted, reloading and letting off another unsuccessful shot, "When I'm through with you, your head's gonna be mounted over my fireplace!"

Despite all his threats, the bounty hunter just couldn't manage to hit the jewel thief. Undaunted, he decided to try another tactic. Intentionally aiming _above _Rouge, he began firing at the branches overhead. After a few attempts, he finally succeeded in what he was trying to do. One of the bullets penetrated clean through a thick, but decaying tree branch. This caused an explosion of splinters as the limb broke off from the rest of the tree. Rouge didn't even get a chance to look before the giant chunk of wood fell on top of her, pinning her to the ground. She tried to move the huge log off of her, but it was no use: she was stuck.

"Well, well, looks like I win after all…" Fang taunted, walking up to the incapacitated Rouge.

"That was a dirty trick and you know it," the bat hissed back. Since she was lying on her stomach, she couldn't see much, but she definitely could hear the weasel approach her.

"Hey, you don't get anywhere if you just play by the rules! Now, where's that Emerald Star?"

"I'm laying on it, jerk. There's no way you can reach it without getting by me."

"Defiant to the last, eh?" Nack sneered, loading one final bullet into his gun, "Well, I'd _love_ to see you try and dodge this one…"

The weasel pointed his rifle at Rouge and began to squeeze on the trigger…

"Hold it right there, scallywag!"

Nack barely got a chance to turn around before getting clobbered over the head and knocked out cold. The last thing he saw before everything went black was a human female pirate.


	61. Slaying Robotic Dragons

Mario was still gawking at the mechanical behemoth that was formally Hooktail as it lowered its head and began to prepare another plume of flame. Fortunately, Sonic was much more aware than the awe-struck plumber.

"Whoa! Mario! Look out!"

The Blue Blur rushed in and pulled Mario out of the way just as a column of fire scorched the area he was standing moments before.

"Man, and I thought this thing was annoying _before_!" Sonic groaned, "... You okay, Mario?"

"Yeah, I'm fine..." Mario assured, slightly uneasy, "But... _Mecha_ Hooktail!?"

"NEGATIVE," the robotic dragon replied, "I AM MECHATAIL, SERVANT OF DR. ROBOTNIK AND SIR GRODUS. PREPARE TO BE DESTROYED."

"Erm... How about 'no'?" Sonic retorted, "I got more important things to do than get destroyed by you. See ya!"

However, as he turned to leave, the door slammed shut, sealing Mario and Sonic alone in the room with Mechatail.

"Or not... Say, can't we talk this over like mature hedgehogs and robotic dragons?"

Mechatail simply let out a huge, deafening roar as an answer.

"No, huh? Fine, then! Bring it on!"

Mechatail lunged her head forward, attempting to sink her metal fangs into Sonic. However, the hedgehog simply sidestepped the robot and proceeded to perform a quick spin-dash right on her noggin. Unfortunately, it seemed to do little damage.

"Dang it! You know it's a bad sign when the ol' spin-dash doesn't even work!" Sonic lamented, "The bigger they are, the harder it is to hurt 'em!"

"Hey, let me take a whack at her!" Mario called out, pulling out his hammer and putting on the badge as before (they had managed to find where the X-Nauts had put all their stuff when taken prisoner earlier).

"Sure! Be my guest! I have no idea what _you_ plan to do, but knock yourself out!"

Mario sprang into action, swinging his mallet around furiously. The heroic plumber began pounding on the dragon's front leg, each hit making the same distinct cricket chirp. However, the robot simply responded by turning and glaring at Mario until his constant hammering slowed down to a stop.

"Gulp... Heh, heh... The cricket chirps don't affect you anymore, do they?..." Mario sputtered, "What with the robotic hearing... and computer brain... and... stuff..."

Mechatail opened her mouth and shot out a fireball, barely gazing Mario. It was enough to set his pants on fire, though, causing the plumber to running around frantically, fanning his rear to try and quell the flames. During this distraction, Mechatail swung her tail around in an attempt to clobber the heroes. Sonic was able to dodge it by simply jumping over it, but Mario was still too busy with his fiery pants to notice the incoming metal appendage, so he promptly got slammed hard by it. Rather than get knocked back, though, Mario held onto the tail as it swept around, until Mechatail brought it right up to her face, causing Mario to be eyeball-to-eyeball with the metallic monster.

"Oh... Gulp... Why, hello there..." Mario stammered, staring straight into the pulsating pressure gauges that served as eyes, "Um... You have a nice tail... Got it oiled recently?"

Mario gave a very nervous grin as Mechatail's eyes narrowed and steam began pouring out of her nostrils.

"HEY! Metal breath! Over here!" Sonic called out, trying to get the robot's attention, "Yeah, I'm talking to you, bolt brain!"

Thankfully, Sonic's distraction worked. Forgetting about Mario, Mechatail lumbered towards Sonic, flinging her tail back behind her again. Instead of dismounting, however, Mario remained hanging on the tail. There was a little gleam in his eye, like he was plotting something.

"Uh... Mario? What are you waiting for!?" Sonic shouted, "Get off! I can't keep her distracted forever!"

Before Mario could reply, Mechatail reared her head back and belched out another huge stream of flame that Sonic just barely managed to dodge. During this, the metal dragon's tail shot straight up into the air... With Mario on it. The resulting momentum catapulted Mario high into the air, nearly hitting the roof of the arena.

"Okay, this is it..." Mario thought out loud, flipping around and planting his feet against the ceiling, "I may not be able to spin-dash, and my hammer can't normally penetrate metal, but if I can gather up enough centrifugal force..."

Mario held out his hammer right in front of him, kicked off the ceiling, and began to spin around in midair. The extra force from the kick-off caused him to begin somersaulting rapidly. Soon, all one could see of Mario was a spinning buzz saw that had a red-and-blue center and a brown outer ring.

Mechatail didn't stand a chance.

Mario first slammed into Mechatail right where her neck attached to her shoulders, smashing the metal and exposing extensive wiring. Rather than tear through, however, Mario simply bounced off of the dragon, still spinning as furiously as ever, and banged into her _again_ right around her mid-back. Once more, this damaged her metal hide and, once again, Mario bounced off, still spinning, and then hit her again. The third shot hit her right near where her tail began, and the rebound sent Mario to the ground, landing right next to an astonished Sonic.

"Whoa... That was way past cool!" Sonic cheered, "Where'd you learn to do _that_!?"

"You," was Mario's one-word reply as he dusted off his mallet.

As the duo watched Mechatail stumble, the effects of Mario's attack were clear: It didn't matter that his hammer was only made of wood while Mechatail's hide was metal. At the speed Mario was spinning, the sheer force was enough to devastate the dragon's metallic armor. With a loud explosion, the metal encasing Mechatail blew off, revealing in its place a dazed and confused Hooktail.

"Ugh... What happened..." Hooktail groaned before spotting the heroic duo, "What!? You two!? Oh, that does it! Heck with what Grodus and Eggman say! I'm gonna eat you two right now! Prisoners be danged!"

"Geez, so much for thanking us for freeing you from that robotic prison..." Sonic mumbled, "If it wasn't for the fact that you were trying to _kill_ us, I'd just _leave_ you as a robot!"

Hooktail wasn't pleased with Sonic's remark and proceeded to lunge forward, backing the two heroes into a corner.

"I'm gonna really enjoy eating you, and no stupid cricket badge is gonna stop me this time!"

Right as Hooktail was about to sink her teeth into the duo, she heard a loud banging noise. She turned around just in time to see the door slam open, courtesy of Amy and her Piko Piko Hammer, and two small, green objects fly at her face at high velocity. She didn't even get the chance to flinch before the projectiles smashed into her cranium, causing her to crumple into a heap on the floor. Once the two green objects landed on the ground, they revealed themselves to be none other than Koops and Koopie Koo!

"I told you I would slay you again, Hooktail," Koops spat, literally, at the downed monster, "May you never eat another innocent koopa ever again."

"Yeah!" Koopie Koo added, kicking the dragon in the head for good measure, "And that was also for swallowing me and indirectly turning me into a robot! You realize what a number that did on my shell? I _just_ got it waxed at the Poshley Heights Spa!"

While the koopa couple continued their slightly overdone tangent on the defeated Hooktail, Mario and Sonic walked over to Amy and Goombella, who were still standing outside the room.

"Hey, nice timing there, Ames," Sonic congratulated, "another second longer and we would've been dragon food!"

"Well, I couldn't let anything happen to my Sonikku, could I?" Amy rhetorically asked, casually leaning on her weapon, "Not only did I use my hammer to open the door, I also was able to send that cute couple flying though the air at that big monster with it!... With their permission, of course."

"Yeah..." Goombella agreed, "I knew Koops was good with his shell attack on the ground, but in the _air_? That was incredible! And I didn't even _know_ Koopie Koo could do that!"

"I learned it from Koops!" the female koopa shouted as an answer.

"Well, that big ol' dragon is down for the count, right?" Sonic concluded, "So what do we gotta do now, Mario?"

"We have to reclaim that Emerald Star and find Professor Frankly, wherever he is..." Mario replied, "Come on, if there's one place we can get some answers, it would be the throne room!"

* * *

The first thing the group was greeted to when they entered the throne room was a very unenthusiastic "Hi, guys," from Professor Frankly himself.

Or, more specifically, a Professor Frankly currently tied up and hanging on a small metal arm sticking out of the right side of the Eggwalker, which was currently being piloted by Lord Crump.

"Huh? Eggman?" Sonic sputtered in slight confusion, "What's with the Viking hat? New fashion statement?"

"Don't you dare compare me to that fat idiot!" Crump roared, "I am Lord Crump! Your little Egg-freak managed to destroy my ride when he first got here, so I'm stealing his! Eye for an eye and all that jazz. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to have to blow you all up so I can get my job back!"

"What? Grodus actually _fired_ you!?" Mario asked, "Heh, looks like he finally caught on!"

"Shut it, plumber! I'm goin' after you first!"

"Correction:" Mario began as he started running up to the Eggwalker, "We're gonna free Professor Frankly first!"

"Wait! Mario!" Sonic shouted, "Don't get so close---"

Too late. As Mario approached the Eggwalker, he noticed a small panel right in the front of the mech slide open. He didn't even get a chance to react before a giant, spring-loaded boxing glove shot out and socked him in the jaw, sending him sprawling all the way back to the entrance of the room!

"Ha! You thought you could just rush in? What a moron!" Crump cheered, "Eggman may be a jerk who stole my job, but at least he could come up with some awesome weapons for me to steal!"

"Mario!" Goombella gasped, "Are you alright!?"

"Ugh..." Mario moaned, slowly getting back to his feet, "I'm fine, but it looks like close-ranged attacks are out. No matter, I got a badge for that, too!"

Mario pulled out another badge and attached it to his overalls. Then, he took his hammer and aimed it like a throwing knife at the Eggwalker.

"Time for some close-ranged damage with far-ranged distance!" Mario called out, "HAMMER THROW!!!"

Mario threw the hammer, which began spinning around like a boomerang as it approached its target. Lord Crump was able to get the Eggwalker to dodge out of the way as the hammer flew by, but it did manage to sever the rope that held Professor Frankly to the robotic arm. Not losing a moment of time, the goomba professor hit the ground running, not stopping until he reached the safety of the group.

"Phew, who knew I was going to get caught up in all this!" Frankly sighed as he plopped down next to Goombella, "I'm an old man, I can't take much more of this without my little heart stopping!"

"Shesh, big deal!" Crump snorted as the group reunited with the professor, "So you got your friend back. Woopdie doo! Guess what? You missed me! _And_ you lost your ham... OW!!!"

Crump was cut short when the hammer came flying back, hitting him in the back of the head, causing his face to smash against the dashboard! Meanwhile, the mallet continued its flight until it once again reached Mario's open hand.

"Part boomerang, part bludgeoning weapon. Gotta love the Hammer Throw Badge," Mario commented.

"Grr... Alright, that's it! Now you're gonna get it!" Crump yelled, "Let's see, where'd Eggy put that giant blue laser thingy?..."

During the small lull in the action as Crump frantically tired to figure out where the 'giant blue laser thingy button' was, Mario quickly turned to Goombella, Frankly, Koops, and Koopie Koo.

"Goombella! Koops! You guys remember where the teleport room is, right?" Mario asked.

"Yep!" Goombella assured, "How could I forget? We had to find it before this place blew up the first time!"

"Good! You guys take Professor Frankly and Koopie Koo and get outta here! Me, Sonic, and Amy can take care of it from here!"

Koops seemed pretty eager to go along with Mario's plan, but Goombella wasn't so confident.

"You sure you want to do that, Mario? I mean, what if you need us?"

Mario's answer was cut short when Crump actually did manage to find the fire button for the Power Laser, causing the group to have to throw themselves to the ground as the intense laser beam shot over their heads.

"There's less risk of you guys getting hurt if you get out now!" Mario explained, "Now go!"

This time, they didn't need more encouragement. Goombella, Koops, Frankly, and Koopie Koo got up as soon as the laser was done firing and made their escape, heading for the teleport room as fast as possible.

"Looks like your little friends abandoned you," Crump teased, "how sad, looks like you three are on your own now."

"For the record," Sonic corrected, "in case, you know, you weren't listening, we _told_ 'em to leave. We can take you on all by ourselves!"

"I'd love to see you try," the former X-Naut second-in-command stated as a miniature missile silo came up out of the back of the Eggwalker, "of course, I'd also love to see you as nothing more than a scorch mark on the floor! FIRE!"

The missiles launched from their silos and promptly made a gun for the three heroes. Sonic and Amy were able to use their speed to easily dodge all the incoming ballistics, but Mario had a much tougher time as he weaved left and right, barely missing a direct hit and usually getting thrown for a loop from the resulting explosion from the 'miss', anyway.

"Okay, this is getting ridiculous!" Mario moaned as he landed after getting thrown from another explosion, "Sonic! You got any ideas on how to stop this guy?"

"Um..." Sonic mused, "That's a toughie... Kinda hard to even get near him, you know!"

"Wonderful..."

"Hey, guys!" Amy called out, "I got an idea!"

"You do!?" both heroes shouted in unison.

"Yeah! Get over here, quick!"

The trio quickly regrouped and huddled together to discuss Amy's plan. Lord Crump halted his attacks and tried to listen in on the conversation, but to no avail: they were talking too quietly.

"Grr... Alright, this is ridiculous!" Crump concluded, "Why am I even trying to listen in, anyway? I should be blowing you losers up right now!"

Suddenly, the huddle broke up, and the three heroes began putting their plan into action.

"Oh good, 'bout time you three idiots... Huh?"

Mario and Amy stood back-to-back, with their arms interlocked and holding their respective weapons out in front of them. With them in position, Sonic began running around the duo until all that could be seen of him was a blue circle. Soon, a small breeze began to pick up, and that breeze turned into a full-blown blue tornado. Eventually, Sonic leaped out of the way, but in his place was a red, pink, brown, and yellow tornado: Mario and Amy were spinning around at sonic speed!

"Heh, heh... Hey, Crump!" Sonic taunted, standing behind the Mario/Amy tornado and giving it a powerful kick, "Looks like you're about to get Eggman's ride destroyed as well!"

The kick propelled the spinning, hammer-wielding duo forward, straight for Lord Crump.

"Oh snap..." was all Crump managed to get out before the spinning hammers hit him.

With a loud 'BANG!', the Eggwalker smashed into a million pieces and Lord Crump was sent flying into the air... through the glass dome in the throne room... and into deep space!

"Happy landings, pal!" Sonic called out, "Be sure to send me a letter from Argentium once you get there!"

Meanwhile, the spinning top that was Mario and Amy slowly began to wind down until all that remained were two very dizzy, mallet-wielding heroes.

"Whoa... Momma mia..." Mario moaned, "I think I'm gonna be revisiting that pasta I ate earlier..."

"You're telling me!" Amy agreed, "I get dizzy when I do my hammer-spin on my own... But at Sonic's speed!... Ugh..."

Sonic approached the duo, who were finally beginning to regain their bearings.

"Nice going again, Ames!" Sonic complimented, "That plan really showed that Crump guy who's boss!"

"Why, thank you, Sonikku!" Amy replied, blushing.

"Well, we saved Professor Frankly and showed Lord Crump the old what for!" Mario began, "Now all we gotta do is find our Emerald Star and get outta here!"

"I'm afraid you won't be able to do that."

The trio didn't even get a chance to turn around before they felt themselves get shot with something. Having experienced it before, Mario already knew what it was as he found himself floating in the air and unable to move: Grodus' scepter! They found themselves being turned around and, sure enough, there was Grodus, grinning sinisterly with Dr. Eggman close behind him.

"I suppose I should congratulate you," Grodus mused, "you certainly came up with a more effective way of getting rid of that deadweight Crump than I ever could."

"Oh, go stick your electronic head in a giant toilet, you overgrown calculator!" Sonic hurled, "What are you gonna do now? Kill us?"

"You and Mario? Most definitely!" Eggman retorted, "However, we need your precious little girlfriend, since Mario apparently forgot to bring his!"

"So you _are_ planning on using her!" Mario sneered, "You sick little bas---GAH!!!"

Grodus sent an electrical shock through his scepter, hitting Mario and making him convulse a bit.

"Now, now, it isn't appropriate for the big famous hero to swear, is it?" the X-Naut leader taunted, "Of course, it won't matter for long. Soon you'll be joining Crump in deep orbit!"

With that, Grodus flung his scepter, sending Mario and Sonic flying into the far wall. However, they still kept their hold on Amy as they began to leave the room.

"So long, losers!" Eggman shouted, "Come on, Grodus, we've got ourselves a demon to reawaken!"

"Wait! I don't wanna wake up a demon!" Amy cried, "Mephiles was enough! SONIC, HELP!!!"

"AMY!!!" Sonic shouted, quickly getting back to his feet, "Hold on, I'm coming!"

Unfortunately, not even the Fastest Thing Alive could reach the other end of the room before Grodus and Eggman dragged Amy out and shut the door. Sonic banged his fists on the steal barrier, but to no avail: the duo was trapped inside the room. Defeated, Sonic slumped down and began to cry quietly.

"Sonic..." Mario sighed, approaching the hedgehog, "I'm sorry..."

"Amy's been captured... And it's all my fault!" Sonic sobbed, "I can't even protect my friends when they're three feet away from my face!"

"Sonic, there was nothing you could've done. Grodus..."

"What are they gonna do to her!?" Sonic demanded, panic whacking out his voice, "You saw that creep wake that demon up before! What are they gonna do to her!?"

Mario stood dumbstruck. What should he do? He knew what happened the last time, but could he risk telling Sonic now? The poor guy was already having an emotional breakdown as it was! How could he tell him that...

Mario's thoughts suddenly stopped when he heard a strange noise. It almost sounded like something... burning?

"Hey, Sonic, do you hear that?" Mario asked.

"What?"

"That noise, I think it's coming from over there..."

Mario walked over to the center of the room, where a huge, circular X-Naut insignia was engraved on the floor. The plumber stomped his foot on the emblem and confirmed what he expected: the floor beneath was hallow. There was something down there making that noise. Looking at the very edge of the crest, he could see that it wasn't flesh with the rest of the floor; it could be lifted.

"Sonic! Help me lift this thing! I think there's something underneath!"

The hedgehog, although still almost completely broken, complied. The duo got their fingers underneath the motif and, with a little elbow grease, managed to lift the logo up and look under it.

What they saw shocked them.

Below the throne room was a huge pit full to the brim with hundreds, if not thousands, of bob-ombs. Not only that, but the sound Mario heard was all their fuses burning out. They had maybe a good five minutes before the whole place exploded, taking them with it!

"Holy freakin' shroom!" Mario gasped, "Sonic, we gotta get outta here now! WE'RE STANDING ON A GIGANTIC BOMB!!!"

**Author's Note: Let's play good news, bad news. Bad news first: I missed my deadline. Again. Good news: I'm on summer break now! Yay! No school to get in the way of my writing! If I manage to miss the next deadline _now_, feel free to unload the entire arsonal of _Shadow the Hedgehog_ weapontry on me.**


	62. Hack and Dash

Desperate to escape the deathtrap they were stuck in, Mario and Sonic began pounding as furiously as ever on the metal door. However, despite Mario's hammer and Sonic's spin-dashes, the door still refused to open; they were still sealed within Grodus' throne room with a large arsenal of pre-lit bombs that were threatening to blow the entire base to smithereens.

"Great! Just great!" Sonic groaned as he rebounded off of the door again, "If we can't get this stupid thing open soon, we're gonna get blasted to Kingdom Come!"

"Or the Underwhere..." Mario added, "I've been there once before, and I have no intention of going back!"

"Dude... Did you just talk about your underwear?"

"Huh? No, I said... Oh, never mind... We gotta find a way out of here!"

"Yeah, but we ain't going anywhere with this hunka metal blocking our way! Any clue on how to open it?"

"Well..." Mario began, thinking back to his first raid on the X-Naut base, "When TEC was still in charge of everything electronic in the base, he had power over all the security systems, including opening and closing specific doors. Apparently, that's how he helped Peach gather information while she was trapped here. If he was still had control, he could easily open the door for us, but Grodus built that firewall..."

Suddenly, Mario's face lit up.

"Wait a second! Grodus' personal computer! Of course!"

In an instant, Mario rushed over to the other side of the room, where Grodus' throne was. Sonic quickly joined him as the plumber began pushing the throne to the side, revealing a door hidden behind it that, thankfully, was still open. Without wasting a single moment, Mario ran through the door into the X-Naut leader's personal office. Sitting on an oak desk in the center of the room was a giant laptop, still on, still running programs keeping the base operational.

"Bingo," Mario whispered.

Quickly situating himself in front of the computer, the red-capped hero began banging on the keyboard, trying to find a way to open the door.

"PLEASE ENTER PASSWORD:"

"Um..." Mario mused. He wasn't expecting that.

"What's the hold up?" Sonic asked. The hedgehog didn't like waiting, especially if his life was at stake.

"Looks like Grodus' computer is a little more protected than the last time I was here," Mario explained, "and I don't know the first thing about hacking computers!"

"Major bummer... Too bad we don't have Tails here. He could probably get that thing hacked and sacked in no time!"

Once again, inspiration struck Mario. Digging through his pockets, he found what he was looking for: the Gameboy Horror.

"We may not have him _here_..." Mario stated, "But that doesn't mean we can't get his help."

* * *

"... And _then_ he said that _I _showed up, but I kept saying I was Ali Baba!" 

"Man, Tails, Sonic sure has one heck of an imagination, huh?"

"I dunno... Don't _you_ ever get completely wrapped up in a story, Luigi?"

"Well... I've always thought Wario's a lot like Scrooge in _A Christmas Carol_, but that's just me..."

Luigi and Tails were currently lounging in E. Gadd's laboratory, exchanging small talk while waiting around for something more exiting to happen. Gadd himself, meanwhile, was busy working on something in the adjacent room. Whenever they tried to ask him what it was, he would simply reply that it was 'Top Secret' and that it was something for Mario.

"Still," Luigi continued, "I'm not claiming that I actually jumped _into_ the book. I'm thinking maybe Sonic's a few coins short of a 1-Up if you know what I mean."

"Hey, wait until you hear what he had to say about _Sinbad_..."

Suddenly, a small beeping sound began resonating throughout the room. Both sidekicks immediately recognized the noise: It was the Gameboy Horror! They both dived for the system, which was currently resting on a computer dashboard in the room. However, they both wound up short, collapsing in a heap right in front of the dashboard. Their collision knocked the Gameboy Horror off the control panel, landing right in Tails' lap. The young fox quickly turned it on and saw Mario's face appear on the screen. He seemed to be pretty worried about something.

"Hey Mario! Did you get the Emerald Star yet?"

"Listen, Tails, we don't have much time!" Mario shouted frantically. The urgency in his voice made Tails realize that something had gone terribly wrong, and hearing his brother in a panic quickly got Luigi's attention as well.

"Bro.! What's happening!?" Luigi asked.

"No time to explain!" Sonic quickly interrupted on the other end, "Tails! You're good at hacking computers, right?"

"You bet, Sonic!" Tails assured, "What's up?"

"We need you to help us get though this firewall!" Mario explained, "Now, all you have to do is connect the Gameboy Horror to a computer... Any computer! When we connect our system to the computer on this end, you should be able to hack into it from where you are! You have to find a way to shut down the firewall on this computer so that we can use it! Otherwise... Well... Let's just say we'll be peeling our lips off the ceiling of the Whoa Zone!"

"Right! Don't worry about a thing!" Tails declared, "I'll take care of that firewall!"

Tails rose to his feet (while Luigi still sat on the floor trying to figure out what the heck was going on), and plugged the Gameboy Horror into one of E. Gadd's countless computers.

"Okay, I'm connected!" Tails confirmed, "You guys got your system in?"

"Just a second..." Mario murmured, "Sonic, grab that wire, will ya?... No not that one, the other one! Oh, just let me do it!... There! We got it!"

Suddenly, the monitor of the computer Tails was using flickered to life, projecting line after line of complex code in green text that soon flooded the screen, causing it to begin scrolling downward indefinitely.

"Alright, I'm in!" Tails called out, "All that's left is to hack this firewall! Okay, time to fly!"

"Yes, please hurry..." Mario mumbled, "We don't have much time..."

By the time Luigi got up, Tails was pounding away furiously on the keyboard. At times, the man in green would have to do a double-take as he watched the child type away at speeds that rendered his fingers invisible to the naked eye. Meanwhile, the text on the screen began scrolling even faster, this time intermitted with a few lines of red text that, as far as Luigi could make out, was displaying warnings. Whether the warnings were telling Tails that his hacking was not working or if they were informing the computer on the other end that its firewall was failing, Luigi couldn't tell. To him, it was all a blur of electronic data. How Tails could keep up with it was beyond his reasoning.

"Man, this firewall's _tough_!" Tails grumbled as he continued hacking away, "Might've been easier to take Shadow's approach and just jump in and blow it up literally!"

Then, just as suddenly as it had begun, the screen flickered a few times and all of the text disappeared. In its place was a huge, red, flashing sign that simply said 'FIREWALL BREACHED!'. Upon seeing this, Tails jumped in jubilation.

"Guys! I did it! Your firewall is no more!"

"Phew! Thanks, little buddy!" Sonic sighed, "We'll take it from here!"

The image on the Gameboy Horror fizzled a little bit before completely blacking out. This, in turn, caused the monitor on the computer to shut down as well. Within seconds, the lab was as quiet as it had been minutes before. It didn't even appear that E. Gadd, who was still in the other room working on his 'top secret' project, was aware that anything had happened.

"Uh..." Luigi stammered, "What just happened?"

Tails simply sighed, unplugging the Gameboy Horror and placing it back on the dashboard it was located on previously.

"Well, the usual..." the fox child replied, "I just hacked into a supercomputer that I think was being used to operate a giant base. Sonic has me do that all the time to mess around with Eggman's stuff. Sounded like whatever was going on was urgent, but they never got a chance to tell me... Oh well, I'm sure they can handle it."

Luigi's eye twitched for a moment before he promptly performed an 'Anime Fall'.

* * *

Mario hardly got a chance to disconnect the Gameboy Horror before Sonic began clicking away on stuff on the computer, hoping to find a way to open all the doors in the base. 

"Alright, the doors have to be in here somewhere..." Sonic grumbled, "Come on... Lighting, air conditioning, throne massage chair option... Where the heck is the big 'make doors open' thingy!?"

Sonic's thought process was cut short when a voice suddenly boomed in over the loud speaker.

"Mario... Can you hear me?"

Mario recognized the voice immediately.

"TEC!" Mario yelled, "It's you! How did you get here? Weren't you 'trapped' in that room?"

"When your friend brought down the firewall, I was able to regain control over everything in the base," TEC explained, "I can see the predicament you are currently in, and you do not have much time. I will open all the doors in the base and begin activating the teleporter. You must make all due haste to the teleport room and get out of here, although with Sonic by your side, I doubt that will be a problem."

"But... But what about you?" Mario asked, "If the base blows up, won't you..."

"Mario... I survived the destruction of this base once, I am certain I can do so again. Even if I cannot, though, I know I have done all that I can for you once more. Now, go. Amy is in need of both your help."

Mario paused for a moment to think it over, which got Sonic pretty antsy.

"Come on, Mario..." the hedgehog mumbled, pointing to the now-open door at the far end of the throne room, "We can have our moment of silence _after_ we get outta here!"

"... Alright, let's-a go," Mario finally said, "TEC... I hope we can meet again."

"As do I, Mario," TEC replied.

"Okay, enough with the goodbyes already!" Sonic interrupted, grabbing Mario by the arm and running out the door, "Let's blow this chilidog stand! Up, over... and _gone_!"

The blue hedgehog blasted off with Mario in tow, running out of the throne room and into the hallways of the base once more. However, as they were passing the pit of bob-ombs, Mario noticed how short the fuses were now. At this rate, they could blow up any second!

"Oh, shoot!" Mario shouted, "Sonic! The teleport room is the third door on the right, now hurry over there before the bob-ombs---"

**_KABOOM!!!_**

* * *

The Palace of Shadows lied undisturbed for centuries below Rogueport, its foreboding architecture and dark secrets of a long-forgotten civilization hidden away from all so that none would know of the terrible power it contained. 

Hidden, that is, until Mario opened the Thousand Year Door.

Now, anyone could easily enter this satanic realm to plunder its treasures, both literal and metaphorical. Even Wario attempted it at one point, only to give up because all the confusing puzzles that served to guard the treasures 'made his brain hurt'. Regardless of what one was searching for, though, the true force hidden deep within this abandoned city could only be found with the power of the seven Crystal Stars.

Or, as was the case now, one Emerald Star.

And it was this one Emerald Star that Dr. Eggman was now holding in his hand while his partner, Sir Grodus, used his scepter to keep aloft another key part of their plan: Amy Rose. As the sinister duo made their way through the ancient hallways, Amy could hear... _something_ reverberating though the air. It almost sounded like whispers, but of whose voices she couldn't begin to fathom.

_Who is that girl?_

_She's the one they're going to offer to her majesty._

_Why her? Is she pure of heart?_

_Perhaps. Even if she isn't, though, her majesty is so weak now that she will take anyone to regain her physical form and power. Even someone who is... not human, as it so seems._

_Our mighty monarch as a hedgehog... this will be a day most remembered! Hee hee hee!!!_

Amy shuttered as the voices laughed. What was going to happen to her? Was the Shadow Queen... Going to possess her? Like it did Peach? Well, Peach was fine now, so it couldn't have been too bad, could it? Besides, Sonic would come to her rescue, just like Mario did for Peach! But... But what if they didn't escape in time? She could hear the explosion on the moon all the way down here. Were they dead? No! They couldn't be! Sonic would save her, and Mario, too!

Still, as the spirits continued to snicker while Eggman and Grodus, either oblivious to the voices or choosing to ignore them, continued deeper into the sanctum of darkness, she couldn't help but begin to fear for her life.

"Sonic..." Amy whimpered, holding back tears, "Please... Save me..."


	63. A Pirate's Revenge

"Okay, someone refresh my memory..." Wario grumbled, storming through dense jungle foliage, "_How_ are we gonna find that furball Nack or Fang or whatever on this God-forsaken island?"

"Hey! Don't insult my island!" Dr. Crygor quickly interjected, "It's not God-forsaken, it's... 'Spiritually Challenged'."

Wario simply glared at the screwball scientist.

"Remind me again _why_ I asked you to come along..." Wario requested sarcastically.

"Simple! It's because I know this island like the back of my hand!"

To prove it, Crygor held up is hand and began to inspect it.

"Hmm? Odd..." he muttered, looking at his hand more closely, "I never noticed that before..."

Almost as if on cue, the doctor promptly tripped over a root and fell into a small ditch. Upon seeing the scientists odd antics, Wario simply began rubbing his temples and walked off.

"Good grief... Even those Chaotix freaks are less annoying then that guy..."

Immediately, Wario found himself eyeball-to-eyeball with Charmy, who was hovering right in front of him, glaring.

"Hey... We _heard_ that, you know!" Charmy shouted, seemingly offended.

"Good, 'cuz I was talking to you!" Wario grunted, swatting the bee child to the side, "Now get outta my face before I bust out the bug spray."

Charmy hovered back over to his companions, who were at the moment looking around in a clearing, trying to find evidence of where Nack the Weasel aka Fang the Sniper went. Although there had been some rather obvious footprints right near Dr. Crygor's lab leading back into the jungle, they disappeared almost as soon as they reached a tall tree, implying that Fang had stayed off the ground since then. Clearly, this made the hunt a lot harder later as the group, which consisted of Wario, Dr. Crygor, and the Chaotix, trekked deeper into the forest.

"Ya know, no one answered my question..." Wario reminded, approaching the Chaotix, "How on earth are we supposed to find this idiot when all these tree branches make it impossible to see more than three feet ahead of us!?"

"Elementary, my dear Watson!" Vector replied, "We search for clues! Gunpowder, a tuff of fur... Anything that might prove that Nack was here!"

"Right, you do that, you losers," Wario mumbled, "and while you get your nerd on, _I'll_ go and actually _look_ for the guy rather than for a bunch of lousy clues! And you know what? By the time you idiots finally _do_ find something, _I'll_ probably have already knocked that jerk into next week! See ya, suckers!"

After saying this, Wario marched off, walking past the ditch that Dr. Crygor was still trying to pull himself out of.

"And doc," Wario added, "try to get out of that hole before the next rain comes and you drown, okay? I don't want one of my employees dying because he was the world's dumbest smart guy."

"Affirmative!" came the muffled reply.

"Glad to hear it..."

"Wario! Wait!" Vector called out, "You can't go wandering off again! That was what nearly got you killed in the first place!"

This stopped Wario dead in his tracks. As much as he'd hate to admit it, Vector was right. Chasing after Fang the first time had only gotten him a bullet in the chest and he certainly didn't want that to happen again.

"Alright, fine, I'll stay here and 'look for clues' with you losers, but..." Wario began staring intently in the direction he was planning on going, "... Make no mistake, I am _so_ gonna get back at that jerk no matter what it takes."

* * *

Fang began to rub his sore head as he slowly came back to, trying to remember what had happened. He had that Rouge girl right where he wanted her and then... Oh, right! That pirate! She had attacked him! But... Now what?

Looking around, he found himself inside what looked like a small cell with a wooden floor and back wall. There were metal bars for the other three walls, allowing him to see into other cells. There was also a small, wooden bench that he was currently lying on, apparently serving as a makeshift bed. As he got to his feet, he quickly stumbled back onto the bench as the floor suddenly swayed underneath him. This wasn't a prison, this was a boat!

"Gah... That pirate broad musta captured me..." the weasel mused as he carefully got back up, making sure not to be knocked over by the rolling tide again, "Wonderful... So much for this thing being a 'smash-and-grab' job. This reward Robotnik's offering better be a freakin' huge one..."

"Hmm? You work for Eggman? I knew it!"

Nack whirled around and saw, sitting calmly in the cell next to his, none other than Rouge the Bat.

"Hey, who asked you, broad?" Fang hissed, "And what are you doing here? I thought that pirate was on your side!"

"What, because she stopped you from shooting me?" Rouge retorted, "Hardly. As soon as she got you, she walked over and kicked me in the face, knocking me out as well!"

"Great, so now we're in the same boat, figuratively _and_ literally..." Nack groaned, "What's next? That Wario guy suddenly showing up and beating the tar outta both of us?"

Upon hearing this remark, a guard, who had been up to this point almost completely silent, banged his spear against the bars of the cage.

"Hey! Shut yer traps, you landlubbers!" the guard sneered, "There be no mentioning of that Wario fellow on this ship! The captain demands it!"

As soon as his order was finished, the guard returned to his perpetually silent state.

"Well, on second thought, maybe having him here would be useful..." Fang pondered, "An enemy of my enemy is a friend of mine, even if I _do_ have a hit out on him..."

Looking around, the sniper suddenly noticed someone else sitting in another cage on the other side of the room. He couldn't make out to many features, as the shadows seemed to cover them, but what he could see was unmistakable. Red fur, dreadlocks... It was that guardian of Angel Island, Knuckles! Didn't he always bum around with those Chaotix guys? However, if he was even awake, he certainly wasn't showing it: he was just sitting on his wooden bench, scarcely moving or making any noise. He almost gave the guard a run for his money.

"Hey, is that who I think it is?" Fang asked no one in particular.

"Yep," Rouge replied, "it's that feisty echidna Knuckles, and I think he's been here longer than we have. He hasn't said anything, though. I bet he's just embarrassed that he got beaten by a _girl_."

This was met with a rather angry growl coming from Knuckles' general direction.

"She attacked me from behind..." came Knuckles' voice for the first time, "It wasn't a fair fight..."

"You keep telling yourself that," Fang snickered, "I think I'd reconsider my position as 'Guardian of the Master Emerald' if I were you."

More growling.

"So... Why are we here, anyway?" the weasel continued, "Last time I checked, I hadn't taken any hits on pirates, so this can't be a case of revenge."

"Actually, it is," Knuckles corrected.

"Really?" Rouge asked, "But how? None of us have wronged this lady before. Heck, we just got here!"

"I overhead some of the guards talk about it," the echidna explained, "she's using us as bait."

"For who?" Nack demanded, "'Cuz now I'll have to 'thank' him for indirectly getting me entangled with his affairs."

Knuckles simply shook his head before answering.

"Wario."

* * *

"I found a clue! I found a clue! I found a cluuuuue!"

"For the love of all that is good and holy, somebody shut that kid up."

"Espio! Give Charmy a break! He's six!"

"Actually, Vec, I agree with him... for once."

"Wario, I wasn't asking you."

"I know, but I just don't care, so there."

Wario promptly stuck his tongue out at the huge crocodile.

"Oh, real mature, Wario."

"Hey, you're the one defending the hyperactive six-year-old."

Realizing that arguing with Wario was a lesson in futility, Vector turned his attention back to Charmy, who was still flying around with excitement.

"Okay, Charmy, what did you find?"

"Lookie! Lookie!" Charmy explained, "Lookie what I found!"

The young bee held his hands and revealed a handful of shotgun shells in each.

"Um, wow..." Wario mumbled as he looked at Charmy's find, "Hey, doc, you have a shooting range here or something?"

"No..." Dr. Crygor, who, after about an hour of effort, had finally gotten out of the ditch, answered.

"Of course!" Vector declared, "These must be the remains of Nack's arsenal! And we know that he only got off two shots when he was going after Wario, so these must be new! He _had_ to have been here!"

"Vector," Espio interrupted, "I think I just found one better."

The chameleon was pointing at the ground, where footprints could be found once again. Oddly enough, though, the prints looked a little... peculiar.

"Nice find, Espio!" Vector congratulated, "Now, let's see here... Hmm... Judging from the shape of the prints, it looks like these were made by... high heels!"

"High heels?" Wario repeated, obvious disgust on his face, "Gee, I figured that this Nack guy had issues, but..."

"These weren't made my Nack, Wario!" the crocodile quickly corrected, "The prints near the lab looked more like boots... But this shows that he must've come across someone else, most likely female, and judging from the shells Charmy found, I doubt the meeting was pleasant. The question now is: who did he run into?"

"Oh please, even _I _can figure out that one!" Wario laughed, "It must've been that Bat chick... Erm... What's-her-butt... Rouge! That's it! I mean, wasn't she the reason we went in this freakin' forest in the first place? She ran off with the Emerald Star!"

"Wow... I can't believe I'm saying this, but Wario's right," Espio sighed, "so Rouge and Nack squared off around here, and the Emerald Star I'm sure was the prize."

"Yeah..." Charmy agreed, "... But you know, I was thinkin'... What ever happened to Knuckles?"

The mentioning of Knuckles immediately caused a bit of a metaphorical shockwave to wash over everyone. They hadn't seen him ever since he had chased Rouge into the jungle!

"Gah! I completely forgot about Knuckles!" Vector cried.

"Well, gee, what are friends for, eh?" Wario replied sarcastically, "So you let your pal run off by himself to go after someone who would eventually run into another person who has a _gun_! That's what buddies do, right?"

"Wario, shut up!" the lead detective shouted as he frantically looked around for clues on his friend's whereabouts, "Um... Er... Let's see... I don't think I see any signs of Knuckles being here, and I know it's not in his nature to give up on chasing someone who has something he wants, so something must've happened to him before this confrontation... But what!?"

While the Chaotix continued to hysterically ponder what happened to their friend, Wario noticed that Dr. Crygor had gone off by himself, forging deeper into the woods.

"Hey, I know you three are getting all emo over your friend here," Wario intervened, "but the doc's kinda leaving without us, so if you don't want to start lamenting _his_ disappearance, I think we should... you know... KEEP UP WITH HIM!"

Snapping out of their stupor, the trio quickly joined Wario in chasing after Crygor as he walked along, seemingly oblivious to the confusion he was causing.

"Whoa! Doc! Hold up there!" Wario called out, "Where are you going, huh? Did you think you could get rid of us that easily? Well, okay, those Chaotix guys, maybe, but not me!"

"Oh, there you are!" Crygor replied, "Sorry about setting off, but my scientifiky deductions came to the conclusion that we should follow this path, as it seems that this is the way that those two characters of interest the Chaotix were talking about were going."

"Heh, sometimes that loon makes more sense then you guys, eh?" Wario grunted to Espio.

The ninja simply decided to remain silent.

After following the trail for a bit, the group came across a rather unusual scene. There was a rather large tree branch that was lying on the ground in front of them, but it looked like it had been _blown_ off the tree by an explosive rather than have fallen naturally. However the more prominent thing was that there was a note attached to the branch!

"Ah ha! My prediction was correct!" Crygor cheered, "All hail the scientific theory!"

"Yeah, right, whatever..." Wario mumbled as he snatched up the note and began reading it.

"Wa--- Wait!" Vector tried to interject, "We need to dust for prints!"

Wario, however, wasn't listening. Instead, he was reading the note, and growing progressively angrier as he got further down. Curious, the remainder of the group walked up behind him and began to read it over his shoulder.

_Dear Wario,_

_I swore I would get revenge for what you did to me. It is clear that simply stealing your loot would do no good, as you would simply fight to get it back, but I now have some people I _know_ were acquaintances of yours, and regardless of how you feel about them personally, I know that deep down, you would certainly feel _something _should anything happen to them. You have twenty-four hours to return what is rightfully mine or the next time you see your 'friends', they'll be nothing more than fur rugs._

_An Old Friend_

"'An Old Friend'!?" Charmy repeated in disbelief, "Who is this creep, Wario?"

"Yeah!" Vector agreed, "You have some grudge with someone or something?"

Wario simply continued to seethe in rage, only managing to hiss out one name.

"Captain Syrup."


	64. Into the Shadows

The sewers beneath Rogueport were not a nice place to visit. Thieves, bandits, and other sorts of unsavory characters often hid from the law in these depths, going so far as to build a small, subterranean town below the surface. At the moment, however, a rather unusual duo was walking through this subsurface village. It was hard to make out their features, as both were covered in about an inch of soot, but they looked like they had both been through a war zone.

"Well... That was a little too close for comfort, eh?" one ash-laden figure began, hacking up a bit of smoke.

"We might have made it out a bit sooner if you didn't protest to jumping into a huge, glowing, glass cylinder!" the other one retorted, lifting off his hat and dusting it off, "I told you from the start: 'That's not a roboticizer, that's the teleporter!'"

"Yeah, well it looked frightfully similar," the first one defended, "and I've kinda been trained to avoid anything that looks like it could contain you and do something nasty to you!"

"What about things that allow you to escape exploding space stations in the nick of time?" figure number two countered, putting his hat back on his head, "I think I wouldn't mind being contained in something like that!"

As the two entities walked past a pool of stagnant sewer water, they paused and looked at themselves in the reflection.

"Whoa... Looks like that moon base left a little bit of itself on us, huh?" the first figure asked.

"Hmm... You're right... For once."

"Sheesh, mistake a teleporter for a roboticizer once and you never live it down..."

The two individuals began dusting themselves off, resulting in an impressively large cloud of smoke. After a few seconds, the cloud dispersed, revealing in its place none other than Mario and Sonic.

"Well, I feel a _lot_ better now," Sonic concluded, "although I think I'm still gonna need a shower when this is all said and done."

"Can't argue with you there," Mario added, "but that will have to wait until later! For now, we gotta get to the Palace of Shadows!"

"Right!" Sonic agreed, his face beaming with determination, "Eggman and that Grodus freak are gonna regret ever messing with us! And Amy..."

His head sunk down for a moment of silence before immediately shooting back up, fire in his eyes.

"Hold on just a little bit longer, Ames, I'm coming!"

* * *

"How much longer until we get there?"

Grodus turned to Eggman as the two villains made their way deeper into the accursed palace.

"Not much further, my friend. We are almost to the innermost chamber, where the Shadow Queen lies."

He was right. At the moment, they were descending a dark flight of stairs hidden behind the throne room. The darkest chamber of the Palace of Shadow was but one room away: the resting place of the demonic queen.

The X-Naut leader turned to his prisoner, Amy, who was still suspended in the air by the power of his scepter. How he had remembered the first time he came down here, carrying Peach to meet the same fate this hedgehog girl was going to face. Unfortunately, he had been careless, letting his guard down and paying the price for it. This time, though... This time, with the help of this Dr. Robotnik, he was prepared. He would make the Shadow Queen his slave and seek vengeance on all who dared wrong him, starting with that cursed plumber.

"And are _you_ enjoying yourself?" he asked her, sarcasm oozing from his lips.

"Bite me," she hissed back.

"Hmm... A feisty one... I think the Shadow Queen will like you."

Amy simply remained silent, turning away from the evil leader.

Now, they were standing before the door; the door that lead to the most sacred chamber of the palace. Beyond it, the very soul of the Shadow Queen lied in wait. Behind this door, Grodus' instrument of revenge was resting. Once they went through it, there'd be no turning back. He would get his revenge and cast the world into...

_I am the biggest villain in town... I am a genius, and I have proof... I am the mighty, mighty Robotnik..._

Grodus immediately turned to Eggman, who was now fumbling through his pockets, trying to find his cell phone.

"Um... Hold on for a second..." the mad scientist mumbled, "I have to get this call..."

The X-Naut leader sighed as the doctor finally managed to find his phone and quickly answered it before any more lines of his awful ringtone came out.

"Scratch!" Eggman growled, "How many times do I have to... Oh! Bowser! Sorry about that... How's your mission going? You just got there? I see... And how has Robotropolis been doing in my absence?"

Grodus continued to wait as Eggman kept talking to Bowser. He had figured that there was more to this Dr. Robotnik than he had first thought: He apparently was also in allegiance with that Koopa King who proved to be a minor nuisance to him in his previous attempt to resurrect the Shadow Queen. The brute _did_, however, prove to be enough of a distraction for that blasted plumber to allow him to escape with the princess into the innermost sanctum that last time. Tragically, it appeared that he was on another mission, so the chances of having serendipity bring him here a second time to hold up those heroes was probably low. Hopefully, though, that wouldn't be necessary: those two should be in deep orbit by now.

But what if they weren't? If there was one thing he knew about Mario (and that Sonic character as well, judging from the stories Eggman told him), was that he simply refused to _die_. Chances are, those do-gooders were probably already in the sewers, making their way to the Thousand-Year Door at this very moment.

Rather than be afraid, though, Grodus just smiled. If they _did_ survive, let them come. He had a little surprise waiting just for them...

* * *

"Well, here it is, Sonic: The Thousand-Year Door."

Sonic craned his neck up to look at the massive entryway that was before him. The double-doors were adorned with engravings of many kinds, including seven massive cavities made to hold the seven Crystal Stars. However, while these carvings were pulsing with mysterious energy, there was no sign of the Crystal Stars anywhere. It didn't take him long to figure out why: It was still open from the last time Mario entered the Palace of Shadows.

"Man, this thing looks just like the door the Erazor Djinn hid behind during my _Arabian Nights_ escapade," the hedgehog mumbled, "it's got the whole 'needs seven doodads to open' mechanism and everything! Did the same architect work on both the Night Palace and this Palace of Shadows or what?"

"Beats me," Mario shrugged, "but now's not the time to worry about that! The door's already open, so they must be inside! We have to go after them!"

"I'm afraid we can't let you do that."

Mario and Sonic immediately whirled around at the sound of the mysterious voice, but couldn't find anyone.

"Uh... Hello?" Sonic shouted, "Anyone there?"

"Nope..." the voice came again, "... Just the shadows..."

Suddenly, two dark portals began forming in the ground. Sonic quickly got into a fighting stance, but Mario simply stood there in slight confusion.

"Shadow Sirens? Ladies?" Mario called out, "Please tell me it's you..."

"He he he... It is... In a sense."

Two shadowy figures rose out of the portals. Their features were simplistic, bearing only a basic outline of a body: one of them short and hunched over, the other large and fat. They seemed to be tethered to the portals by long tails and they were wearing what looked like witch hats: The short one wearing a blue and white stripped one while the fat one wore one stripped yellow and white. However, the biggest shocker, especially for Mario, was the fact that they were metallic... Roboticized.

"No..." Mario gasped, "Beldam, Marilyn... Not you too..."

"Huh? You know these two weirdos?" Sonic asked, "Well, you know... _Before_ they were roboticized?"

"Yeah... They were the Shadow Sirens," Mario explained, "there were three of them, and they actually were the ones pulling all the strings last time, telling Grodus about the Thousand-Year Door and getting him to awaken the Shadow Queen for them. Turns out they were servants to the Shadow Queen or something. However, after I took care of 'her majesty' the first time, they decided to abandon the whole evil deeds thing and settle down. Looks like Grodus and Eggman roped them back into doing business with them again... Most likely unwillingly."

"Okay, I get that..." Sonic replied, looking back at the two shadow robots in front of him, "But I'm only counting two here."

"You're right..." Mario realized, "Hey! Beldam! What'd you do to Vivian!?"

"Like we're going to tell you, you worthless fool!" the robotic Beldam hissed, "We have orders to make sure you don't interrupt Dr. Robotnik and Lord Grodus' plan! Mecha-Marilyn?"

"Guh?" the other Shadow Sister replied in her usual simplistic manner.

"Let's show these two clowns what we can do! ATTACK!"

Immediately, it had become shadow duo vs. heroic duo. Marilyn clutched her robotic hand into a fist and threw a wide punch. Sonic managed to dodge out of the way, but Mario got hit square in the chest and was sent sprawling a few yards right into a pillar.

"Gah!" Mario groaned, wincing in pain, "And I thought Marilyn was strong _before_..."

"You okay?" Sonic asked, dodging another blow from the muscle of the Shadow Sirens.

"Yeah, I'll be fine..." Mario assured, rising to his feet, "You take care of Beldam while I handle Marilyn!"

"Fine by me!" the hedgehog replied, turning back to their opponents, "Don't worry, you two, I'll get you outta those robotic shells in no time!"

"We'll see about that, hedgehog," Beldam snickered.

As Sonic ran towards the eldest Shadow Sister, ducking down and preparing to spin-dash, Beldam began waving her hand in the air as if she was casting a magic spell. Sure enough, right as Sonic was about to make contact with the robotic witch, a huge force field shot out of her and knocked the hedgehog back a few yards!

"A-Wha?... More force fields!?" Sonic moaned in disbelief, "First Scratch with those X-thingies, and now this? Man, why doesn't anyone just wanna let me take a hit at them?"

Mario wasn't having much better luck. Marilyn's stamina was already through the roof when she was normal; as a robot, she was nigh invincible, especially against Mario's wooden hammer. Every time Mario rushed in to take a swing, it would simply bounce off her metallic skin, doing no visible damage. She would then immediately counter-attack by delivering another punch that sent him flying once more.

"Aright, now I'm getting sick of this..." Mario grumbled, "Sonic! I could use a little help here!"

Sonic, however, was facing his own problems. He was currently standing in a defensive position a few feet away from Beldam. The robot raised her arm, which slowly transformed into some sort of small cannon.

"Prepare to see what happens when you combine magic with technology, rat!" Beldam sneered, "ICE SHOT!"

"Hey! I'm _not_ a rat!" Sonic retorted, "I'm a hedge--- WHOA!!!"

Sonic just barely managed to dodge a huge blast of ice as it gazed by him, causing some frost to form on his fur. It ultimately collided with a pillar behind him, encasing it entirely in ice.

"Man, talk about giving me the cold shoulder," Sonic mumbled, "Got any more tricks like that, lady?"

"Oh... Just this."

Beldam let out another shot at Sonic's feet, firmly freezing him in place!

"What!? Hey! No fair!" the hedgehog whined as he tried to free his legs.

"Don't try to run, rat. You're in the perfect spot for me..."

This time, the robotic witch shot what looked like a missile at the massive stone column again. Since it was brittle from the ice, the shot caused the pillar to shatter and begin to fall... right towards Sonic.

"SONIC!" Mario shouted, immediately realizing the danger, "LOOK OUT!"

"I'm trying! I'm trying!" Sonic replied, still trying to get his feet free, "I'm kinda stuck here!"

Mario began to throw fireballs at Sonic, hoping it would melt the ice, but it was already much too late. The pillar fell on Sonic with a spectacular 'CRASH!', causing all sorts of smoke and debris to fly into the air.

"SONIC!!!"

"How do you like that, fool?" Beldam snickered, "Now, it's one-on-two."

"Guh! Guh! Guh!" Marilyn taunted in her usual fashion.

However, as the dust settled, Mario noticed that Sonic's body was no where to be seen in the wreckage. Instead, right where he was standing moments before was another dark looking portal... with two voices coming out of it.

"Hey! Let go of me! Help! I'm being molested by a freaky shadow chick!"

"Oh... I'm sorry! I'm just trying to help..."

Slowly, two figures came out of the portal: Sonic, who was flailing his arms around trying to break free, and Vivian, the third Shadow Siren, in the flesh and holding onto Sonic as she rose out of the portal!

"Vivian!" Mario called out, relieved that the final Shadow Sister was here and _not_ roboticized, "There you are!"

"Sorry I was late!" the timid spirit apologized, "I thought it was best to lie low until I was needed. You know, to avoid drawing attention and stuff..."

"Yeah, right, whatever..." Sonic stammered, finally getting out of Vivian's grasp, "Mario, is this the third shadow girl you were talking about?"

"Yep, that's Vivian," Mario answered, "she actually joined up with me during the Thousand-Year Door fiasco because her sisters treated her so poorly. Heh... Looks like her timing is still as impeccable as ever!"

"So it would seem..." the roboticized Beldam scoffed, "You good for nothing little brat! What are you doing helping the enemy?"

"I know that's not you really talking, Beldam!" Vivian retorted, "The Beldam I know treats me better than that now! I saw what Grodus and that Robotnik guy did to you, and I'll save you no matter what!"

During the exchange, Sonic promptly ran over to join Mario. Vivian quickly followed suit.

"Looks like it's three-on-two now," Mario retorted, getting back into a fighting stance.

"Yeah! Bring it!" Sonic taunted, motioning the two robotic Shadow Sirens to come at him, "Just no ice this time!"

"Sisters..." Vivian sighed, snapping her fingers and causing a small flame to flicker on her index finger, "Forgive me..."

And the fight began once more.

Mecha-Beldam made the first move by holding out her arm and firing another blast of ice at Sonic. However, Vivian quickly stood in front of him, held out her hand, and let a wave of flame shoot out of her palm. It rushed through the ice, melting it in an instant, and hit Beldam, knocking her back a few feet. While she was recovering, Vivian grabbed onto Sonic again and pulled him back into the shadows.

"Huh? Where'd that traitor and that rat go?" Beldam hissed.

She didn't have to wait long for her answer. A portal formed on the ground right in front of Beldam, catching her slightly off guard. Suddenly, a huge, flaming, fireball shot out of the portal like a cannonball, slamming into the robotic witch!

"GAH!!!" She screamed, sparks beginning to fly from her metal shell.

The fireball landed a few feet away, the flames quickly smothering out. It soon became apparent that the 'fireball' was actually Sonic himself! The hedgehog was now once again soot-covered, just like he was after escaping the moon base a few minutes before.

"Jeez! Vivian!" Sonic yelled, licking his fingers and putting out a small flame that was still on his tail, "When you're gonna do something like that, at least give me a heads up before pulling me under and just telling me to 'start spinning'!"

"Sorry..." Vivian mumbled, slowly rising out of the portal herself, "It was the first thing I could think of..."

Mario, meanwhile, was busy taking on Marilyn again. He still wasn't having any luck, but watching Mecha-Beldam crackle with electricity gave him an idea.

"Hey! Beldam!" Mario called out, "Are you a lightning rod or what? That sparking is a nice effect!"

"Grr... I'll make you eat those very words, fool!" the elder sister sneered as she aimed her robotic arm at him, "ELECTRO STRIKE!"

Sure enough, a large, electro ball came out of her arm and began traveling straight for Mario. Rather than panic, though, the plumber simply remained perfectly still until the projectile was a scant few feet away from him. Then he swung at it with his hammer, smacking the electricity away from him... And directly at Marilyn!

The result was just as Mario had hoped for: the static overload ran though Mecha-Marilyn, causing her to convulse for a few moments. Then, there was a huge explosion, sending robotic parts flying everywhere. When the dust settled, all that remained was a dazzled, but otherwise unharmed Marilyn!

"Guh... Guh?" the rotund shadow moaned.

"Marilyn! You're alright!" Vivian cried, rushing over to her sister and giving her a big hug.

"Guh! Guh!... Guh?"

Marilyn pointed at the still roboticized Beldam.

"Oh... She's still trapped in that robotic shell!"

"Yeah, well, not for long!" Sonic assured, "It's four-on-one now, I believe?"

"Bah! You're all fools!" Mecha-Beldam jeered, "I'll destroy you all!"

"Try me," Mario invited, leaning on his mallet.

Beldam lunged forward, but Vivian, with a wave of her hand, made a huge wall of fire rise up between the heroes and the robot. Beldam tried to quell the blaze with her ice shot, but it did no good. Sonic, meanwhile, backed up, got a running start, and made a high leap over the wall of flames. Beldam looked up just in time to see the blue blur rapidly falling towards her.

"Hey, lady!" Sonic called out, "You better get that force field back up pretty darn quick!"

Beldam did indeed try, but Sonic was much to fast. The hedgehog collided with her before she could even bring her hand up, causing another explosion that sent even more metal flying. When she heard the blast, Vivian snapped her fingers again, causing the flames to immediately recede. Now, what was standing before her was a very confident looking Sonic standing right next to a normal Beldam, hunched over and obviously exhausted. In an instant, Vivian was beside her elder sister.

"Vivian..." Beldam wheezed, "Forgive me... I had no control..."

"It's okay, Beldam, I understand..." Vivian forgave, "I know that wasn't really you."

Although the reunion was touching, Sonic was quickly growing impatient.

"Okay, I hate to break up the sob story here, but do any of you know what happened, exactly?" the hedgehog inquired.

"Well... I don't really know..." Beldam began, "I remember we were in Twilight Town, minding our own business, when we saw a huge group of X-Nauts show up. Vivian was able to escape, as you can probably already tell, but the two of us were quickly surrounded. There were too many of them, even for us..."

"Guh!" Marilyn agreed.

"Then, of course, that slimeball Grodus showed up, but he was with some other man we never saw before..."

"That would be Dr. Robotnik," Sonic added, "aka: Eggman, 'cuz he's that fat."

"Right, and Grodus said to us, 'I promised I would get revenge on what you did to me.' And that was it. That was all he said. He simply stepped aside and let Robotnik walk up to us. The next thing I knew, there was a bright green light, and then... We were robots."

"Guh..."

"Wait a second... Hold on..." Sonic interrupted again, "Eggy can only turn people into robots using the roboticizer. Since when was there just a 'green light'? Weren't you put in a glass tube or anything?"

"No. But I think he was holding something when that green light showed up."

"He was... Holding something?" Sonic mused, "That can't be right, unless..."

The hedgehog suddenly went pale.

"Mario! Remember that 'latest invention' Eggman was talking about before Grodus told him not to ruin the surprise back when we arrived at the X-Naut base?"

"Yeah..." Mario recalled, "You don't think that it was a..."

Suddenly, Beldam hunched over again and began moaning loudly.

"Beldam!" Vivian cried, "Are you alright!?"

"Ugh... I can feel her..." Beldam groaned, "The Shadow Queen... Her power is growing stronger by the minute!"

If Sonic was pale before, now he was pure white.

"OH SHOOT! AMY! THEY MUST BE DOING THAT CRAZY RITUAL THING RIGHT NOW! I GOTTA STOP THEM!"

No one else got a chance to speak before Sonic reved off, blasting through the Thousand-Year Door and into the Palace of Shadows to save Amy. Mario got up to run after him, but he paused for a moment and turned back to the Shadow Sirens.

"Ladies!" Mario requested, "Go and find Koops and Goombella! They shouldn't be too far away from here! If the Shadow Queen _does_ reawaken, we're gonna need all the backup we can get!"

"As you wish, Mario."

"Don't worry, Mario! You can count on us!"

"Guh!"

All three sisters vanished into the shadows to fulfill Mario's task. With no time left to lose, Mario ran after Sonic into the darkness that lied beyond the Thousand-Year Door.

* * *

Sonic already felt a gaping pit in his stomach as soon as he reached the final chamber, a trip that took him all of two minutes. The demonic sanctum was filled with candles, all glowing with a supernatural purple flame. There was what appeared to be a coffin on the far end of the room, and chained to it was none other than Amy herself.

"AMES!!!" Sonic screamed, immediately running into the room.

"Wait! Sonic!" Amy shouted, "Look out!..."

Too late. Sonic quickly found himself levitating in a frozen position again; once more a victim of Grodus' scepter. He turned to see the X-Naut leader standing next to the door at the front of the room, effectively hiding from anyone who blindly wandered into the chamber... like he did.

"I was wondering when you would show up," Grodus hissed, glaring at the hedgehog, "I knew that blowing up my moon base or sending a couple of robotic henchwomen wouldn't get rid of you. But I suppose it's all for the better: now you get to watch what happens to your little girlfriend right before your very eyes."

"You sick, twisted little son of a..."

"SONIC! WAIT FOR ME!"

Mario's cry cut through Sonic's insult (at a rather good moment) as he came running into the room as well. Upon seeing the hedgehog suspended in the air, he quickly tried to run back out, but Grodus scooped him up in the scepter's power as well.

"Uh... _Why_ didn't I see this one coming?" Mario asked to no one in particular, "Note to self: Must stop running blindly into rooms where major villains are known to be hiding."

"Well, it appears that we have a two-for-one deal now," Grodus snickered as he watched the two heroes float helplessly before him, "what do you say, Dr. Robotnik? Robotnik?"

Everyone turned to see Eggman standing in the opposite corner of the room, talking on his cell phone.

"Okay, look, Snively, I'm kinda busy right now trying to awaken an ancient demon, so I _highly _suggest that you do whatever Bowser asks you to until I get back, is that understood?"

There was a faint, "Gulp... Yes, Sir..." heard on the other end of the phone.

"Snively?" Sonic muttered under his breath, "That's a name I haven't heard in a _long_ time..."

Eggman promptly put his cell phone away and turned back to face his new visitors.

"Well, well, well, look who finally showed up," Eggman began, approaching Mario and Sonic in their vulnerable position, "And here I thought we'd be doing this little ritual all by our lonesomes."

"Can it, Eggman!" Sonic shouted, "What are you gonna do to Amy?"

"Why, it's very simple, my furry friend," Grodus explained, "as Mario here can attest to, the Shadow Queen needs a sacrifice when she is awakened; a host to be a vessel for her spirit. Since Princess Peach tragically decided not to join us for this venture, we'll just have to use this Amy Rose instead."

"Right, Grodus, you do that," Mario jeered, "and when the Shadow Queen comes back, she'll blow your head off again!"

"That's where my genius comes into play!" Eggman announced.

The doctor whipped out what appeared to be a rather goofy-ray gun. However, as his finger rested on the trigger, green sparks began jumping out from the nozzle.

"I suppose you were wondering how we roboticized those shadow chicks without sticking them in a glass tube, hmm?" Robotnik inquired mockingly, "Well, behold my latest invention: the Roboticizer Handgun! All the vileness of the roboticizer in convenient travel size!"

"So _that's_ the big secret weapon you were talking about!" Mario concluded.

"Bingo! You catch on pretty quick for a plumber. Now, once the Shadow Queen... ahem... 'takes the bait', one zap from this baby will roboticize Amy... With the Shadow Queen trapped inside her! All the power of a demon under our command!"

"You're insane!" Amy cried.

"Why, thank you," Eggman replied.

"So that's your big plan!?" Sonic shouted, seething with rage, "Let Amy be possessed by a demon... and then _roboticize_ her!?"

"Precisely!" Grodus laughed, "And you have a front-row seat!"

With that, Grodus let the two heroes fall to the ground. However, they were still unable to move; they were just 'off the hands' of Grodus, so to speak. Paralyzed and on the ground, all Sonic could do was watch in agony as Grodus approached the coffin Amy was chained to and hold out the Emerald Star.

"Oh great Shadow Queen..." Grodus began in a satanic-like chant, "With the power of this Emerald Star I call you from the grave to humbly accept this offering we bestow upon you, so that you may take physical form once more..."

"NO!" Sonic screamed "AMY!"

But it was too late. The room began to rumble with unholy power. The temperature plunged as the flames of the candles flickered wildly in a non-existent wind. Suddenly, the lid of the coffin rose up, and black tentacles quickly wrapped themselves around Amy's body, completely covering her.

"IIIEEE!!!" Amy shrieked as the black ooze began to cover her face, "SONIC!!! HELP!!!"

"AMY!!!"

Without warning, there was a deafening explosion, propelling both heroes and villains against the far wall. Amy's screams were drowned out by a haunting chorus of wails and moans of the undead. Black smoke poured out of the coffin and flooded the chamber. Suddenly, there was a crack of lightning, and a figure could be seen rising from the smoke.

"A... A... Amy?..." Sonic whimpered in vain hope, "Is... Is that you?"

All he got for an answer was a sinister laugh that reverberated throughout the entire palace.

"No..." Mario replied, "That's the Shadow Queen."


	65. Rise of the Shadow Queen

**Author's Note (Part 1): Hey, an author's note at the _beginning_ of a chapter? Weird! Not to mention I've got one at the end, too... At any rate, I just want to point out something cool that has come to this fanfiction: Fanart! The awesome MsDevin92 (who writes the incredible _Appositu Obscurum_ which you _must read now_) went and drew a fanart of Shadow Queen Amy! I can't provide the link here 'cuz Fanfiction is stupid, but you can see it for yourself by going to her DeviantART account (it's in her profile) and looking at the piece titled _Into the Shadows: ... WTF?_. It may not look _exactly_ as how I describe her in the fic, but it's very awesome nonetheless. Go check it out, 'cuz fanart based on fanfictions is always awesome (hint, hint...).**

Sonic shuddered as the figure stepped out of the fog to reveal herself. She did indeed spare a strong resemblance to Amy, but the vileness of the Shadow Queen shone through much, much more. Her fur, instead of its normal pink color, was now deep purple, with occult markings crisscrossing her body like tattoos. Her hair, also dark purple, hung down, covering half her face. In stark contrast, her muzzle was deathly white, and one could see what looked like vampire fangs in her sinister smile. Gone were the red dress and shoes; now, both were black with white fringes, and the dress looked like something out of the Victorian-Gothic era. She no longer wore gloves, but the hands were still hard to see, as black smoke seemed to resonate around them.

The most terrifying part, however, were her eyes. They weren't the playful, youthful, emerald eyes that Amy once had. Instead, they were but small dots, colored blood red, that pierced down at the group below. Mario glared right back at her. Sonic was staring in shock, mouth agape and trembling like a leaf. Eggman, although displaying an air of confidence, was also shaking a bit. Only Grodus was perfectly still and emotionless, keeping his feelings of revenge in check as the Shadow Queen descended down from the coffin where her soul had previously laid.

After observing everyone's reaction at her, she looked down at her new body and let out a small, ominous chuckle.

"Hmm..." she snickered, stroking her furry side and seemingly enjoying the experience, "I wasn't expecting my vessel to be something with... _fur_, but I think I could get use to this."

At this point, Sonic couldn't hold it in any longer. Having already been freed from Grodus' paralysis spell after the initial blast, he immediately ran up to the Shadow Queen, grabbed her shoulders, and began shaking her vigorously.

"Amy! Amy!" he shouted, tears welling up in his eyes, "Come on, I know she's in there! Let go of Amy!"

Sonic kept this up for a few moments, most likely at the humor of the Shadow Queen, before he suddenly felt himself get thrown back against the wall by some dark power. Looking up helplessly at the satanic monarch, he watched as she held out a mist-covered hand at him. Suddenly, the fog formed into a giant hand, lashed out, grabbed Sonic by the throat, and hoisted him up into the air a few inches away from the queen.

"So, I take it you were my vessel's boyfriend, is that right?" the Shadow Queen inquired, another smile forming on her lips.

"She's _not_ a vessel," Sonic spat back, "she's a _person_, and you... you..."

He was cut short as the hand tightened its grip on his neck.

"Hush now, little hedgehog, she can't hear you anyway..."

Sonic continued to lash out at his attacker, but she kept him just far enough away to keep him from hitting her. Soon, he simply fell limp with defeat.

"However, I could always make you a deal. Bow down to me, and when I cast the world into darkness, I'll keep you alive as my pet."

Sonic instantly shot a vicious glare at her.

"You can kiss my blue, spiky, a---"

She immediately tossed him aside before he could finish his sentence, sending him sprawling and knocking over a few candles on the right side of the room. With Sonic disposed of, she turned her attention back to the rest of the group, where Grodus was currently bowing down, holding out the Emerald Star before her.

"Oh, Shadow Queen, it is I, your humble servant," the X-Naut leader began, "with this Emerald Star, I brought you back from your grave to live life again, and I wish for you to have it."

From his vantage point, Mario could see Eggman quietly pulling out the Roboticizer Gun and discreetly aiming it at the Shadow Queen. However, she didn't seem to notice. Were they really going to pull it off? Could they really roboticize the Shadow Queen?

"Well, well, Sir Grodus..." the queen continued, taking the Emerald Star from his hands, "You went through all the trouble of finding this and bringing me back again?"

"All for you, my master," Grodus replied, casting a quick glance to Eggman as a sign.

"My, how kind of you..." she complimented as she stared into the radiant star-shaped gem, "... Of course... Heh, heh... You still have much to learn."

"... I... I do?"

The Shadow Queen snapped her fingers, and lightning suddenly struck both Dr. Eggman and Sir Grodus! Eggman, although now comically covered in soot, was otherwise unharmed. However, the Roboticizer gun now laid in a million sparking pieces sprawled out in front of him. Grodus, on the other hand, was much worse off. Once again, all that remained of him was his large, computerized head; his body was nowhere to be seen. As he looked up in confusion at the demon monarch, she simply let out another laugh.

"Did you really believe you could contain me within a robot?" she sneered, "Foolish mortals... I can never be captured and tamed, like some domesticated dog. I am the Shadow Queen. I will _never_ be under anyone's control but my own."

Grodus wanted to speak up. He wanted to know how she knew what they were planning. How she had been one step ahead of him even without the Shadow Sirens help. However, he could not. All he could do was remain silent and realize the facts: he had failed. Again. And now, once more, the power he had hoped would make him unstoppable could not be stopped. Unable to bear it any longer, Grodus let out a long, sad sigh, closed his eyes, and stoically awaited his fate.

Eggman, meanwhile, was busy cursing his own bad luck: that Roboticizer Gun had been the only one he had! He never even got a chance to make a spare, and now it had been destroyed for good! How could things get even worse?

Oh, well, there's that huge demon he just helped to awaken that was now threatening to kill him. That was pretty bad.

Scanning the room in a panic, the doctor quickly spotted the doors that led into the chamber: they were still open! Getting up off his butt, he made a mad dash for the door, plowing Mario over in the process.

"Hey!" Mario shouted, "Get back here!"

"Sorry, suckers!" Eggman mockingly apologized, "But I simply have no intention of dying quite yet. Enjoy your graves!"

And with that, Eggman quickly slammed the large stone doors. Mario ran over and tried to push them open again, but to no avail: he and Sonic were sealed inside with an ancient demon. Turning back around, he found himself eye-to-eye with the Shadow Queen.

"Mario..." she hissed, "It's you again... The pathetic worm who managed to cursed me back to my grave after I was given life before..."

"Yep," Mario replied, pulling out his hammer and getting in a fighting stance, "and if I could do it once, I can certainly do it again."

"We shall see, won't we?"

The Shadow Queen held out her right hand and the smoke that swirled around it increased tenfold. Eventually, it died back down, but there was now a huge, spiked, stone mallet in her hand, which she wielded around effortlessly. Eventually, after a few taunting sways, she swung the hammer down at Mario at an unnatural speed. He managed to sidestep the blow, but the strike caused the entire room to shake.

"We shall see... Heh heh heh..."

Mario gulped. This was going to be a _bit_ different than last time...

* * *

Sonic shook the cobwebs out of his head as he slowly got back to his feet. Getting thrown aside like a rag doll had caused him to black out for a few moments, so he was just now regaining his bearings and observing the situation before him. 

What he saw shocked him.

Eggman had flat out disappeared (_probably ran away_, he figured) and Grodus was now quite literally just a head on the floor, yet these things paled in comparison to what was happening in the center of the room. Leaping all around and striking at each other with their weapons was Mario and Am... The Shadow Queen. They lunged at each other, one occasionally diving out of the way of the other's attack, but most of the time the two used their own weapon to block the other's assault. Thus, the two fought; using their hammers like swords as they swung at each other at speeds that were too fast to keep up with. Eventually, Mario had enough of an opening to look and see that Sonic was finally awake.

"Hey! Sonic!" he shouted, "I could use a little help here!"

Sonic, however, didn't respond. How could he fight the Shadow Queen? That was _Amy_ she was possessing! How could he possibly inflict pain on the demon when he knew full well that he was also hurting Amy!? He just... Couldn't...

Looking around, he spotting something else floating high above the chamber: the Emerald Star! It had indeed been the same one he and Mario had brought with them to Rogueport, inadvertently delivering it right into Grodus' hands, and now it was residing at the very top of the sanctum, its light resonating into the darkness below. However, it was clear that the artifact was being used by the Shadow Queen: every so often, a bolt of lightning came down from it and struck the queen, seemingly giving her renewed strength while Mario slowly began to lose his steam.

_So the Emerald Star is giving her power..._ he thought, _Maybe if I can get my hands on it, I'll be able to drain her power and save Amy!_

With no time to lose, Sonic quickly reved up and blasted straight at one of the walls. Rather than coming to a _very_ quick stop upon reaching it, he simply began racing _up_ the wall... and straight for the Emerald Star.

Unfortunately, the Shadow Queen anticipated the move.

Reaching out with her left hand at the Emerald Star, she watched as a portal of darkness opened up on the ceiling above it. Suddenly a large number of small hands reached out of the portal and grabbed the star before slowly pulling it in.

"Huh? What the!?..." Sonic muttered as he watched the star, "Hey! That's _my_ star! HANDS OFF!"

Sonic curled up into a ball and did his trademark spin-dash up the remaining part of the wall, across onto the ceiling and clean through all the hands that were holding onto the star, causing them to sever in half and fall. Unfortunately, one hand managed to get a grip onto Sonic's ankle, causing him to come to an abrupt stop and hang limp dozens of feet off the ground. From there he could only watch helplessly as the star fell to the ground right at the Shadow Queen's feet. Even worse, he felt more hands reach out of the darkness and grab him; they were pulling him in!

"Why, thank you, delivery boy," the Shadow Queen 'congratulated' as she picked up the Emerald Star and dusted it off, "while I _was_ receiving ample energy from this little 'gift' Grodus gave me as was, having it right with me will make me all the more powerful. I suppose I _should_ make you my pet for that... Now, be a good pet and stay in the darkness where you belong."

More hands began tugging on Sonic, pulling him further into the dark portal. He tried to scream, but hands had reached out and covered his mouth, forcing him into silence.

"Don't worry..." she chuckled as Sonic's lower half completely swallowed up by the portal, "Mommy will come see you in a minute. I'll use my power to give you a few... 'improvements' I'm sure you'll love."

"Don't bet on it, Shadow Queen."

She immediately froze as she realized her mistake: while she was taunting Sonic, she had taken her eyes off of Mario.

She spun around just in time to receive a hammer blow right to the face, courtesy of Mario. He promptly followed up by swinging at her again before she could recuperate... And again... And again... He kept up the relentless assault until they were directly below the spot where Sonic was being sucked in. Then, he quickly leaped into the air, landed on her head, and used her spine as a springboard to propel himself high into the air. Reaching out as he rapidly approached the ceiling, Mario grabbed onto the one part of Sonic's body that had not yet been swallowed up by the darkness: his outstretched arm, desperately trying to keep itself out of the portal. With the sudden weight increase Mario added, the hands that were pulling Sonic in had no chance to compensate and quickly lost their grip on the hedgehog. Suddenly, Sonic came dropping out of the portal, and he and Mario quickly landed in a heap on the floor below.

"Ugh..." Sonic groaned, "Man... That was worse than the time I had that nasty run-in with that ghost at the castle Chris' mom was filming at!"

"Heh... You should talk to Luigi if you want to compare ghost stories..." Mario chuckled despite the intensity of the situation.

"How nice of you to drop in..." the Shadow Queen sneered, clearly unhappy about losing Sonic as her 'pet', "Unfortunately, I think it's time for you to learn your place in this world!"

She held the Emerald Star above her head and watched as lightning coursed from the star and directly into her body. More dark smoke suddenly came rushing out of her body, obstructing the heroes' view of her. The crackling of electricity was soon joined by her sinister laughing, which slowly changed from being somewhat high-pitched to a much lower, deeper, and more demonic laugh. When the smoke finally cleared, the sight before them terrified Sonic, but was simply all too familiar for Mario.

Now, standing in the middle of the room, was a huge monster that looked like it was made up of 'ribbons' of shadow. Two large hands rose up on either side of the main body, which consisted of a huge body and a head, complete with a crown on top. The possessed Amy was still there, but she was now floating in the middle of the chest, seemingly protected from all attacks by the new body surrounding her. The Emerald Star also resided inside the chest, right in front of Amy. As she talked, the monster also talked, but with a much more satanic voice, causing an eerie echo-like effect to resonate throughout the room.

"Ha ha ha... Surely you remember this, Mario?" the monster mocked, "What do you plan to do now? You have no seven Crystal Stars to use against me."

Mario was about to speak when he suddenly heard the sound of the two massive doors to the chamber open. He quickly turned around to see who was there, and a huge smile appeared on his face.

"Need a hand?" Goombella asked as she stood in the doorway with Koops and Vivian.

* * *

Sir Grodus had watched the scene unfold from his position on the floor, just as he did during that first horrible awakening. Watching Mario fight the Shadow Queen, seeing her transform into that horrible monster... It was like those mortifying events from so long ago were replaying exactly as they had before. Of course, the addition of Sonic as a new actor in this scene had changed some things, but it mattered little to Grodus: he was still and observer of the chaos caused by the monster _he_ had created. 

Upon seeing the doors swing open again, he quickly recognized the people the people that came through. Goombella, Koops, Vivian... All Mario's old partners; all actors that were in this horrifying scene before. Their appearance did little to appease Grodus. In fact, the way they made the situation parallel even more only severed to further torture him. All the characters were back; everything was as it was before.

Suddenly, he heard what sounded like two portals opening behind him. Doing his best to turn his head around, he found himself staring up at the two other Shadow Sirens... The two who betrayed him the first time. They glared down at him, Marilyn cracking her knuckles while Beldam simply adjusted her hat.

"Well, well, if it isn't the high and mighty Sir Grodus..." Beldam taunted, "Not so tough now that you managed to get tricked by the Shadow Queen again, hmm?"

Grodus continued to stare at the eldest Shadow Sister, but the look on his face betrayed the sudden horror he felt. They had somehow escaped his vengeance. They were no longer under _his_ control.

"At any rate..." Beldam continued, letting a small swirl of magic form in her hand, "I think it's time we got some revenge on what _you_ did to _us_, isn't that right, Marilyn?"

"Guh! Guh!" Marilyn agreed.

Beldam reached out and grabbed onto Grodus. He was unable to move, both from no longer having legs as well as being paralyzed with fear. Now _they_ wanted vengeance, and this time, it wasn't with the Shadow Queen's help. This was not like how the scene played out before; this was new... much too new.

As he was pulled into the dark portals the two Shadow Sirens formed, all he could do was try not to scream.

* * *

"Goombella! Koops! Vivian!" Mario shouted in jubilation, "You guys came!" 

"Yep, and it looks like not a moment too soon!" Goombella replied.

"Yeah..." Koops concurred, trying his hardest to maintain his courage as he stared at the monster before him, "Man, oh man... I never thought I'd be seeing _her_ again."

"I found them just like you asked," Vivian explained, "and they were all too happy to come and help you out again!"

"Look, I'm sure this reunion is nice and all..." Sonic interrupted, "but we've got a huge monster here and she's got Amy! How about we save the small talk until later and get to work!"

"Right!" Mario agreed, "Come on! Let's-a go!"

"Pathetic mortals!" the Shadow Queen shouted, "Prepare to lose yourselves to the darkness!"

The five heroes immediately rushed in to attack. Goombella dodged a swipe from one of the giant hands and delivered a headbonk to the same appendage. Although the attack didn't look like it could possibly do much damage, the hand was immediately sent reeling back and fell limp for a few moments. Meanwhile, Vivian, with a wave of her hand, caused a plume of flame to ignite underneath the other arm, causing that one to also convulse in pain. The head of the monster began shooting dark projectiles from its mouth, but Mario was already on it; he ran all over the room, using his hammer to deflect the shots right back at the Shadow Queen's face. While the battle continued to rage, Sonic quickly pulled Koops aside.

"Hey, Koops..." he began, "You fought this thing before... Is her chest as flimsy as it looks?"

"I think so..." the koopa replied, "But if you think _I _could hit the queen inside, forget it. I only slide along the ground; I can't hit her in the air."

"Don't worry, that's not what I want you to do," Sonic assured, "just start doing that shell-slide move of yours and I'll handle the rest!"

"Uh... Okay..."

Koops ducked into his shell and began spinning around furiously. When he reached maximum speed, Sonic leaped on top of him, and held on tight as he shot off. The hedgehog then steered the shell like he was riding an Extreme Gear, directing it straight for the Shadow Queen. She immediately saw him coming and tried to launch all sorts of attacks at him, ranging from fist strikes to projectiles, but he managed to quickly veer out of the way of all of them, until he was right in front of the monster herself. There, he leaped off of Koops, launched himself into the front of the beast, and came rocketing out the back, taking with him the precious Emerald Star.

"NO!" the demon shrieked, "MY POWER!!!"

"Mario! Catch!" Sonic called out as he threw the star towards the plumber.

"Got it!" Mario replied as he jumped up and grabbed the Emerald Star as it whizzed past. He looked at the star for a moment before looking back at the Shadow Queen, who was now visibly trembling in fear.

"NO! DON'T!" she protested, "I WILL NOT BE SENT BACK AGAIN!"

Mario held up the Emerald Star before him, causing it to give off a radiant light that seemed to blind the Shadow Queen.

"Go back to wherever you came from, Shadow Queen!" Mario shouted, "You _still_ have no place in this world!"

Suddenly, a blast of bright light shot out of the star and cut right through the Shadow Queen. She immediately began to disintegrate, the ribbons of darkness forming her getting sucked up like they were debris in a twister of light. They flew around the room for a few intense seconds as the light became so bright that it was impossible to seen. Then, as soon as it started, the darkness was sucked back into the coffin that originally held the Shadow Queen before the lid slammed shut behind her, sealing her within her tomb once more. After this, the light quickly retreated back into the Emerald Star, which Mario, in exhaustion, dropped to the floor. The room was now deathly still; the candles were lit with normal yellow flames and not a word was spoken between any of the heroes. The silence continued for about a minute.

"Is she... Gone?" Vivian asked, breaking the stillness.

"Yes..." Mario sighed, "It's... It's over..."

"Phew..." Koops panted, "That... Wasn't as bad as it was last time."

"Heh, we must be getting better at this whole hero thing!" Goombella joked.

Sonic, however, remained silent. He was busy staring at the limp form that was lying in front of the coffin. A form that was sunken over and not making any noise.

"Amy..." Sonic whispered, barely audible, before breaking into a run towards her flaccid body, "AMY!!!"

He began shaking her, praying that she would wake up. However, her body simply sagged forward and fell into his arms.

"Amy... Please..." Sonic whimpered, tears forming in his eyes, "You gotta wake up... Come on... Wake up..."

Slowly, her eyes opened and she looked up at him, her eyes staring into his.

"S... Son... Sonic?..." she gasped, "I... I'm so s... s... sor..."

And she fell limp again, collapsing against his chest.

All Mario and the rest of the crew could do was watch as Sonic embraced Amy and began to cry.

* * *

Although no one was quite sure how he found the time to do it in between all of his adventures as well as his excessive partying and sporting events (not to mention his actual job as a plumber), it was a well-known fact that Mario actually had a doctrine in medicine. In fact, he even had come very close to developing a cure for the common cold! At the moment, however, 'Dr.' Mario was currently taking some samples from his newest patient: Amy Rose. 

Tucking his stethoscope underneath his lab coat, he leaned over and took a swab of Amy's mouth as she lay in bed, still unconscious. He then dipped the swab in a small test tube full of a special diagnosis fluid. Just as he suspected: It turned pitch black.

Shaking his head, he put the saliva sample next to the blood and urine samples; they, too, were black. There was only one disease that could cause this: PPS... Post-Possession Syndrome. He turned to the female toad that was standing next to him and began addressing her. Normally, he would have 'nurse' Peach with him, who also managed to get her nursing degree in between all her kidnappings, but she was busy doing other things at the moment (like running the Mushroom Kingdom), so she was currently unavailable.

"Put her on twelve milliliters of Able Juice via infusion per day for the next three days," Dr. Mario ordered, "that should be enough to cure her."

The nurse nodded and walked off to get the medicine. Dr. Mario, meanwhile, simply sighed and walked out of the room.

Dr. Mario never really did like working at hospitals. He preferred house calls, since they were more personal. This 'house' call, however, was a bit unusual, since the 'house' was actually Princess Peach's castle. After the whole Rogueport ordeal, they had returned to the castle to recuperate and plan their next move, as well as give Amy a chance to recover in peace.

As he left the room and entered the castle hallway, he quickly ran into Sonic the Hedgehog, who was sitting in a chair just outside the room.

"How is she?" he asked, obvious desperation in his eyes.

"Well, the good news is that she'll eventually be completely fine," the doctor began, looking down at his clipboard.

There was a look of clear relief on Sonic's face as he said this.

"The bad news, however, is that, at the moment, she has Post-Possession Syndrome, a nasty little disease that's sort of one big side-effect from getting possessed by anything. Think of it as a sort of possession hangover."

Sonic slowly rose to his feet and followed Dr. Mario as he walked down the hallway, as they talked, the doctor began undoing his lab coat and eventually took it off, revealing Mario's normal shirt-and-overalls outfit underneath. He then took off the doctor's headband and replaced it with his trademark cap. Now, 'Dr.' Mario was just plain ol' Mario once more.

"You see..." Mario continued to explain, proving that his knowledge didn't come off with the costume, "My first personal experience with the syndrome came after _Peach_ was possessed by the Shadow Queen. Unsurprisingly, she had the exact same symptoms that Amy has now, the only difference being that she never lapsed into unconsciousness. The same thing happened to my brother, Luigi, after he had a rather nasty run-in with a creepy little fellow named Dimentio."

"Dimentio?" Sonic repeated, "You never told me _that_ story."

"Well, Luigi's kinda sensitive about the whole ordeal, and I'd rather respect his wishes and not blabber about it," Mario shrugged, "at any rate, the important thing is that, with the medicine I prescribed her, she'll be fine in a few days. Until then, the only thing we can do is let her rest... And hope she doesn't do any creepy _Exorcist_-like things. Not that I've ever seen that personally, but it's been recorded in a few medical journals."

"Well, that's a relief, I guess..." Sonic sighed, "Still... I can't believe I let that happen to her! Friends are supposed to look out after each other, and she went through all that junk right before my eyes!"

Mario turned to the blue hedgehog and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Sonic... It wasn't your fault..." Mario comforted, "If you blame yourself for everything bad that happens to your pals, you're just gonna make yourself sick... and in a way I can't just go prescribing a pill for."

"I guess... But I just can't shake the feeling that the only way I can protect my friends is to act like I don't like them so no one thinks they can get to me by harming them!"

Mario just shot a glare at him.

"Sonic, that's a really dumb idea. Don't ever try that."

The hedgehog simply turned away and mumbled something about apologizing to Tails for calling him 'Pixel Brain'.

The duo continued down the hallways of the castle until they reached the room that Professor E. Gadd had converted into his laboratory. Inside, the professor was currently messing around with the Chaos Radar with Tails, while Luigi simply sat off to the side playing a DS.

"Blue!" Luigi shouted at the DS, although it seemed like it wasn't doing anything in response, "Blue! I said blue! BLUE! BLUEBLUEBLUEBLUEBLUE!!!"

"_Brain Age_?" Mario inquired as he watched his brother struggle.

"This is the reason why my brain's 69 years old, apparently," Luigi grumbled, looking up from his handheld, "I am _so_ not getting the sequel, cool dual-colored DS be danged."

"Right..." Sonic moaned, obviously uninterested, "Uh... Hey, Gadd? Got any new leads?"

"Sorry, my boy," Gadd apologized as he ripped a few circuits out of the machine, "but we've been giving this radar a massive overhaul."

"Since the radar obviously didn't pick up a true Emerald Star the first time," Tails explained, "we're trying to fix it so that it wouldn't get tricked by false signal."

"In the meantime," the professor concluded, "you're on your own when it comes to figuring out what the heck you oughtta do."

"Wonderful..." Mario sighed, "So we go through that whole whirlwind adventure and we don't get anything from it except that our method of tracking down Emerald Stars is screwed up. I guess we're back to square one, eh?"

Sonic opened his mouth to reply, but was cut short when a loud beeping noise began resonating throughout the room. Almost immediately, Mario, Luigi, Tails, and Gadd began checking their Gameboy Horrors and/or Mailbox SPs for calls, but it wasn't coming from any of them. No one knew what was making the noise... Except Sonic.

"Oh... Oh no..." Sonic gasped, "No... Please don't be it..."

The hedgehog pushed his right glove down to reveal a rather well-hidden wristwatch. Mario leaned over to observe it and noticed that it was the one making all the beeping. However, it certainly didn't appear to be tied to any sort of alarm function.

"Uh... Sonic?" Mario asked, "What's that thing doing?"

Sonic only managed to let out one sentence.

"There's trouble in Knothole."

**Author's Note (Part 2): Upon reading that last line, I am _certain_ that one of three thoughts came into your mind: "SWEET!!!", "NOOOOO!!!", or "What's Knothole?" I'll get it out of the way now (although some of you seemed to figure it out in the last chapter): _Yes, I am including the Freedom Fighters_. Now, I have a reply prepared for each responce you may have had...**

**"SWEET!!!": It is, isn't it? Go celebrate by having a _SatAM_ marathon.**

**"NOOOOO!!!": Yes, they're in the fic, you'll have to deal with it. However, I do have a few words of comfort: For starters, the next chapter is gonna swing back to Wario's/Knuckle's story, so don't worry about the Freedom Fighters jumping in quite yet. Secondly, the chapters with them will be pretty much self-contained. What does that mean? Quite simply, Mario and Sonic are gonna hang around with the Freedom Fighters for only a few chapters. After that, they'll continue on their crazy crossover adventure _without_ the Freedom Fighters. So, if you _abhor_ them so much that you can't even _bear_ to do so much as _read_ about them, you can theoretically 'skip over' those chapters and pick up afterwards without losing too much ground, save a few key details I'll catch you guys up on in a later author's note. However, my personal advice is to really just suck it up and read the chapters anyway: They really aren't all that horrible, you know. Give 'em a chance, I'll make it a good one.**

**"What's Knothole?": If you have no clue what I'm talking about, take heart: Sonic will tell you _everything_ you need to know in the chapter after the next one. After all, Mario has no clue about the Freedom Fighters either, so Sonic filling _him_ in on the details will fill _you_ in as well.**

**A few other notes: While I'll make a few passing refrences to the comics (Mario being called an 'Overlander', for instance), the Freedom Fighters will be more or less based on their _SatAM_ versions as opposed to their comic ones. Also, there's the infamous question: Sonic/Amy or Sonic/Sally? Thankfully, I've got a solution that will hopefully satisfy both sides, so you pro-Amy and pro-Sally fans don't have to go at it here.**

**Thanks for hanging in there through this HUGE author's note. This decition wasn't one that was made overnight, and it only came after a lot of internet research and watching all the old cartoons. I would also like to take this moment and send out a big thank you to AnT, a fellow author (who has his _own_ Mario/Sonic crossover that you should go check out) who got me into the Freedom Fighters to begin with and stuck with me as I asked all sorts of stupid questions regarding them. This is for you, AnT. See you Freedom Fighter fans in two chapters (after I get the obligitory Wario/Knuckles bit out of the way) and until then... ****_Let's do it to it!_**


	66. Naval Battle, Round 2

**Author's Note: Yes, I know I'm late... I blame schoolwork. You should, too. Apparently, they don't kid around when you take two classes that have the letters "AP" in them...**

**However, I also come bearing some really freakin' awesome news. If you haven't checked the offical _Super Smash Bros. Brawl_ site (called the "Super Smash Bros. Dojo!!", 'cuz Fanfiction hates links) in about a week, do so _right now_ and go look at the characters section. Seriously, go do it now. Just leave this fic minimized or something and go do it.**

**Back yet? Good. Now that you have probably peed your pants with excitement, you can now fully enjoy this next chapter. Oh, and try to catch the really lame _Star Wars/Final Fantasy_ cameo while you're at it.**

"But I just don't get it... Who _is_ Captain Syrup?"

Wario ignored Charmy's question as he continued to storm through Dr. Crygor's lab, grabbing as many things that, according to Wario, "looked really painful" as he could.

"Let's see here..." Wario thought out loud to himself, investigating some of the more peculiar inventions Dr. Crygor had lying around, "Yo, Crygor! Besides your spandex collection, what do ya have here that can cause unbearable pain, endless suffering, and otherwise violates the Eight Amendment?"

"You hate Captain Syrup _that_ much?" the bumble bee inquired.

"Captain Syrup? I'm looking for stuff to use on _you_," Wario sneered, "Now, for _Syrup_, I'm looking for something that not only _violates_ the Eight Amendment, but maims it, rips it into a million pieces, and takes a whiz on its mangled corpse."

There was a pause as Charmy thought over what Wario had said.

"... What's the Eight Amendment?"

Wario promptly tossed a random gear that was lying on a workbench at Charmy as a reply.

"Hey! Careful!" Crygor pleaded, "That's a very special piece of equipment!"

"Uh... It's a _gear_..." Wario deadpanned, "Now, get over it and help me find something useful around here, or is the only thing you _make_ is 'no sense'?"

"While I would hate to break up such a spirited argument," Espio interrupted, the tone in his voice obviously implying that he _wouldn't_, "I do believe you should answer Charmy's question for us."

"Yeah!" Vector concurred, "Who's Captain Syrup? She sounds like someone you know..."

Wario turned and glared at the Chaotix trio.

"Okay, look: I'm only gonna explain this once, so shut up and listen up!" Wario began, "Captain Syrup is the leader of the Brown Sugar Pirates, a bunch of losers who make _goombas_ look intelligent. A few years back, they tried to run off with a gold statue of Princess Peach, so I set out to... ahem... 'rescue' it."

"With the intention of charging a ransom to have it returned, I bet..." Espio murmured.

"Hey, who's telling the story here: me or you? Anyway, so I set off on an epic quest of monumental proportions to recover the statue and, along the way, decided to pick up a little 'hazard pay' from those pirates as well. Needless to say, I don't think she took it well when I handed her butt to her on a silver platter and ran off with the loot, so she's been trying to reclaim _my_ treasure ever since! I stole it fair and square from her, dang it! And she keeps thinking that she can just waltz in and steal it back!"

"And now she went and dragged _us_ into this mess as well!" Vector added, "She's _gotta _have Knuckles... And she probably has Nack and Rouge as well!"

Wario gave the crocodile a mocking round of applause.

"Great job, genius! I coulda told ya _that_ one! Now, are we just gonna sit around and state the obvious, or are we gonna go smash some heads in!?"

At that moment, Penny and Mike came running into the room.

"Grandpa!" Penny shouted, "The ship's all set!"

"Yeah!" Mike agreed, "The F.A.R.T.'s ready to rock and roll!"

There was an awkward silence shared by all.

"The... _Fart_?..." Espio repeated, his eye visibly twitching.

"The **F**ortified **A**quatic **R**econnaissance **T**ransport," Dr. Crygor explained, "with it, we will be able to embark on our search-and-rescue mission to engage in the Brown Sugar Pirates and save your friend. I originally designed it for more passive, exploratory missions, so it isn't exactly battle-worthy, but I'm 98.7654321 percent sure that... _perhaps_ it... _might_ not be... _completely_ destroyed in a battle... on a good day... maybe."

Charmy simply blurted out what was most likely on everybody's mind.

"We're so screwed."

* * *

"Are we there yet?" 

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"_No._"

"Are we there yet?"

"NO!"

"Are we there yet?"

"Look, aren't you a little _old_ to be doing this?"

Fang, who was currently lying down on his cell bench with his hat covering his face, just let out a small chuckle.

"Yeah, but it's worth it to get _you_ upset."

The guard opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Instead, he simply let out an aggravated growl and marched over to check up on Rouge, who was currently leaning right up against the cell door.

"And you... Heh heh... How are _you_ enjoying yourself?" the guard snickered.

"Not so good," Rouge replied, voice dripping with sarcasm, "usually when I go on a cruise, I get a personal masseuse."

The sentinel quickly shoved his spear in between the cell bars, causing Rouge to have to swiftly lean back to avoid getting skewered in the face.

"Keep talking and I'll give you _acupuncture_, landlubber."

"Hmm, I wasn't aware you knew your pampering techniques. You hiding something?"

The guard turned red in the face before quickly turning away and striding over to Knuckles. He was still sitting on his bench sulking, so the guard leaned his head into the cage and sneered at him.

"And are _you_ gonna chastise me, you dreadlocked scally---"

PUNCH!!!

In a red blur, Knuckles had leaped off the bench, ran up to the guard, and decked him in the face, sending him flying into the cell bars on the other side of the room.

"No, I'd rather let my _fists_ do the talkin'!" Knuckles retorted, glaring daggers at the downed guard.

"Ugh... That's it..." the sentinel gasped, "My shift's now officially over... Hey, Biggs! Get down here and take my place, will ya?"

Getting up and holding his now-bloody nose, the guard marched up the stairs leading out of the room and onto the deck. He was soon replaced by another guard, who looked at the three prisoners skeptically.

"Okay... Which one of you punched Wedge?"

Fang and Rouge both pointed at Knuckles.

"Hey!" Knuckles shouted, "He deserved it!"

The new guard just sighed.

"You better knock it off, or the Captain'll keelhaul you for a month!"

Knuckles rolled his eyes.

"Please, like anyone could force me down there!"

"Syrup could 'attack you from behind' again..." Nack suggested.

"Shut it, weasel boy."

The echidna turned his attention back to the guard, only to find him already sitting on a barrel, fast asleep.

"Hmph... Some guard..."

Knuckles went back to his bench and sat down, once more sulking to himself in the corner. Rouge, meanwhile, walked over and glanced out the porthole window onto the blue ocean beyond.

"I hope Wario and those Chaotix boys found that note..." Rouge sighed, "I hate to admit it, but I don't think I can get out of this one alone..."

* * *

Rouge didn't need to fear, for at that very moment, Wario, the Chaotix and Dr. Crygor (Penny and Mike stayed behind as "land support") were sailing on the good S.S. F.A.R.T. in a desperate attempt to save Knuckles from his fate and, according to Wario, to beat Captain Syrup into next Tuesday. 

"I _still_ can't believe we're riding on a ship called the Fart..." Charmy moaned.

"Yeah, well, at least it looks nice, so shut up," Wario retorted, "better than the previous ship I had the displeasure of riding on, anyway..."

The F.A.R.T., thankfully, was a lot better built than Dr. Crygor's previous statements implied. It looked a lot like a yacht, but equipped more for research and exploration than for pleasure cruises, with radars, satellites, and antenna coming out the wazoo on it. It was also, as the first letter in the acronym implied, well fortified: it was built out of metal and rivets more commonly seen on battleships than anything else. Furthermore, it moved rather quickly, practically skipping across the water as it went rather than blast through it. However, if it could be faulted for anything, it was lack of offensive power. There was not a single weapon onboard.

"So Doc, how long until we reach this Captain Syrup?" Vector asked, leaning over Crygor's shoulder as he piloted the ship.

"According to the very incredible accurateness of my undeniably well-engineered devices, the S.S. Teacup will come into view in approximately one hour!"

Vector remained silent for a minute.

"S.S. Teacup?"

"Face it, everyone names their ships something _really_ stupid around here..." Wario bluntly stated, "I could probably eat a bowl of alphabet soup and poop out a better name for some of these floating tin pans..."

Turning away from the duo, Wario made his way over to the back of the ship, where Espio was currently resting, deep in thought.

"Yo, needle-nose, whatcha doin'?" Wario grunted.

"Meditating," came his one-word reply.

"... And?..."

Espio let out a disgruntled sigh and turned to look at Wario directly.

"I'm trying to get in an appropriate mindset before we set off into battle," he elaborated, "or, at least, that _was_ what I was doing before _you_ showed up."

"Oh, don't mind me," Wario mockingly apologized, "you keep sitting there doing nothing while _I_ try and figure out how the heck we're gonna put up a fight when Crygor over there forgot to put so much as a popgun on this tugboat. Shesh, do you ninjas ever actually _do_ anything? All you ever do is sit around and do your crazy Zen-yoga-chi thing. Whatever happened to... ya know... _fighting_? Or is that just something they do in the movies?"

The next thing Wario knew, he was up against a wall, Espio holding him by the front of his collar, and a ninja star imbedded in the wall two inches away from his face.

"Don't. Mock. My. Abilities." Espio hissed, emphasizing each and every word, "Or I swear that next time it won't be just your huge ego that I break."

The chameleon pulled the star out of the wall, let go of Wario, and walked off, leaving the anti-hero crumpled on the floor gasping for air.

"What the... Good grief..." Wario moaned, slowly getting up, "So was that part of your ninja training, or did you learn that from someone who actually knew how to _fight_?"

Another star came whizzing at Wario, flew right between his legs, and pinned the inside of his pant legs against the wall again.

"I'll aim higher next time," Espio's voice warned, although the chameleon himself couldn't be seen anywhere.

"Dang stupid ninja freak..." Wario grumbled as he tried to free himself, but the ninja star kept him firmly in place, "Hey! Someone give me a hand here! Grr... I hate you all..."

* * *

About fifty minutes later (and after Wario finally managed to free himself from Espio's ninja star), everyone had gathered at the front of the board, spying ahead for any signs of the S.S. Teacup. At the same time, the Chaotix were discussing ways they could go about rescuing Knuckles. 

"I could sneak in there invisible and rescue him," Espio offered.

"That is very true!" Crygor agreed, "However, I do believe this ship would not be able to mimic such actions, leaving us at the most part most very, very open during your escapade!"

"Why don't you just feed me more sugar?" Charmy suggested, his eyes lighting up.

"What are you, crazy!?" Vector cried, "Once was enough!"

"Wait... You gave that kid _sugar_?" Wario asked, "What kind of limited mental capacity did you have to _be_ in to give that brat _sugar_!?"

"Look, can we not talk about it?" the crocodile insisted, "Besides, I don't hear _you_ offering any brilliant ideas."

"I say we let Espio do his thing and go in there all by himself. If we don't get the convenience of being rid of that psychotic lizard..."

"... Chameleon..." Espio corrected.

"Chameleon, whatever... At least we'll be able to be witness of one of the most epic fights mankind has ever seen!"

"Uh... _What_ epic fight?" Charmy inquired, raising an eyebrow.

Wario just sighed before pointing out at the ocean blue.

"Pirates..." he then pointed at Espio, "Ninja... It's freakin' pirates vs. ninjas here! Haven't you guys _ever_ been on a message board!?"

Long pause.

"Oh... Forget it..." Wario grumbled, "Noobs..."

Suddenly, a loud beeping sound began resonating in the air. Immediately, Dr. Crygor ran over to the radar and took a look at it.

"Ah ha!" he exclaimed, "We are approaching the S.S. Teacup now! Everyone, battle positions! We must prepare ourselves for the imminent rescue of your echidna friend!"

Although no one was quite sure _what_ the battle positions were on a ship without weapons, Wario and the Chaotix quickly began getting into fighting positions. Crygor, meanwhile, took _his_ position for the fight: locking himself in the bathroom. Regardless, everyone else was getting ready for an assault on Captain Syrup's ship to save Knuckles.

However, what no one noticed was that, on the radar, there was _another _ship that was rapidly approaching both of them...

* * *

"ALL HANDS ON DECK!!! ENEMY SHIP SIGHTED AND COMING UP FAST!!!" 

Knuckles looked up. Rouge gasped. Fang practically leaped from his prone position on his bench to his feet. The guard woke up with a yelp and quickly fell off his barrel with an amusing "THUMP!" There was a huge commotion going on above them, with the heavy sounds of footsteps constantly being emitted from the deck above.

"Huh? What's goin' on?" Knuckles wondered out loud.

"Sounds like they spotted someone and wanna blow the tar outta 'em to me," Fang deducted.

Rouge, meanwhile, took another look out her porthole. This time, she could easily see a small ship quickly gaining on the S.S. Teacup. With a little squinting, she could even make out its occupants: Wario, Vector, Espio, and Charmy!

"Ah ha! I knew it!" Rouge cheered, "Those guys came to rescue us!"

"Wha... We're being attacked!?" the guard sputtered, "Wah! I gotta get up on the deck! Wait, wait for me!!!"

In a panic, the poor, confused sentinel began running around the room in a dither, trying to find the staircase leading up to the deck. During his reaction, he happened to run right in front of Knuckles' cell.

Bad move on his part.

The echidna quickly reached out, grabbed the guard by his shirt and abruptly pulled him against the bars on the cell. With a loud "CLANG!", he was once again asleep, albeit in a more... sudden manner than before.

With the sentinel now lying unconscious before him, Knuckles stuck his hand out again and was able to grab the ring of keys that hung from the guard's waist. It was only a matter of a few moments before he managed to jam the right key into the lock on his door and open it, freeing himself from the cell.

"Ha! Thanks for the keys, buddy!" Knuckles chuckled as he stepped over the body.

"Hey, Knuckles..." Rouge cooed, "You wouldn't mind letting _me_ out of this cell, would you?"

The echidna thought for a moment before grunting and running up the stairs.

"Forget it!" he shouted back down as he ascended, "You were the one who got us in the mess in the first place!"

"Hmph, stupid echidna..." Rouge sneered, "That's no way to treat a lady!"

"And he didn't even think about helping _me_ out..." Fang groaned, "What am I, chopped liver?"

Rouge ignored Nack and let out an annoyed sigh. She'd find her way out, and when she did, she was gonna teach that Knucklehead a lesson!

* * *

By the time Knuckles had gotten on deck, Wario and the Chaotix were already onboard, fighting off attackers left and right. Charmy was the first to notice him. 

"Hey! Knuckles! You're alive!" Charmy called out before immediately flying over to him, "Look! We came all this way to rescue you! Pretty cool, huh?"

Knuckles responded by swatting the bee aside and punching a pirate that had been right behind him, trying to take advantage of the distraction to land a cheap shot on Charmy.

"Less talking, more fighting!" Knuckles yelled as he quickly ran off to fight more foes.

Upon seeing the echidna in the fray, Wario took his turn to "welcome him back".

"What the heck!?" the anti-hero sputtered, "You mean we went though all this trouble of rescuing you and you managed to get out by yourself!?"

In frustration, Wario picked up a hapless pirate and threw him right at Knuckles. He counterattacked by punching the living projectile in midair, sending him rocketing back and smacking Wario right in the face.

"For the record, it was the chaos _you_ guys caused that let me escape!" the echidna corrected, "I was going to thank you, but if you treat me like that, forget it!"

"Oh, quit your blabbering and get in the boat, furball! We came for you and that's already more than I normally risk my neck for!"

"We can't go yet!" Knuckles insisted, "Captain Syrup has the Emerald Star! She got it when she captured Rouge! We can't leave without that!"

"What the... Oh right! That thing! We've been playing run-around for so dang long, I completely forgot that's what we were after in the freakin' first place! For the love of... GAH!"

While he was ranting, Wario failed to notice that one of the goons had sneaked up behind him. As a result, the pirate simply took a hard swing at Wario with his spear, knocking him to the ground. Knuckles immediately ran over to try and help him, but at least five more troops appeared and quickly surrounded him. Elsewhere, the Chaotix also found themselves outnumbered and forced to surrender. Despite their best efforts, everyone had been captured.

The group was eventually brought together in the center of the deck, with at least twenty pirates surrounding them on all sides, preventing them from making a move. There was a dead silence among all; no one dared speak a single word.

Except Wario, of course.

"Well, I guess that proves pirates are better than ninjas, then," he whispered to Espio.

The chameleon made no response.

Suddenly, the doors to the captain's quarters opened, and out stepped the female pirate herself: Captain Syrup.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't my old friend Wario..." she snickered, barely containing her excitement as she walked up until she was inches away from Wario's face, "This little stunt of yours was certainly less successful than they have been in the past, hmm?"

"Well, you can thank these bozos here," he replied, motioning to the Chaotix, "they were cramping my style."

"Right..."

She looked over the side of the ship, spying the F.A.R.T. docked right below.

"I take it you didn't manage to bring all _my_ treasure back to me in that pathetic thing..."

"Well, the original intent was to beat the snot out of you and run off with your hostages as well as any new loot you got, but again, _these_ guys..."

The captain just let out a little chuckle before giving a signal to some of her underlings, who immediately responded and ran below deck.

"Well, I'm sure you remember the note I gave you... About what would happen if you didn't return my stuff to me..."

The guards returned, this time with Rouge and Fang in tow. They tried to struggle against them while throwing out a few insults, but it was no use and they were quickly brought before Syrup.

"Now, I suppose the _first_ thing I'll do is blow that measly ship of yours out of the water. Second..."

She lashed out and grabbed Rouge and then put a cutlass to her throat. The bat continued to struggle, but with a sword at her neck, there was little she could do.

"... I'll skin all your furry friends _alive_, right before your eyes."

There was a particularly noticeable glare of rage in Knuckles' eyes, but Wario ignored it and continued to banter with his rival.

"Okay, first off, bimbo, these guys _aren't_ my friends. I hate their guts, in fact. But secondly," he got into a fighting position again, no matter how futile it seemed, "I hate _you_ even more, so I'm not about to let you have your moment of glory, even if it _does_ mean having to let these idiots live."

"Heh, heh... Try me," Syrup invited, applying more pressure on Rouge's throat, "I can kill her before you make a single move."

However, something happened then that no one was expecting: A cannonball hit the ship, causing it to rock violently and sending everyone sprawling.

"Huh!? What the..." Captain Syrup gasped, glaring right at Wario, "What's going on!? What did you do!? Send for backup!? Or does that little tugboat of yours do more than I thought!?"

"Me? Backup? Ha!" Wario snorted, "I don't need no stinkin' backup! And besides... Come on, look at that ship... The closest thing that boat's got to a weapon is a Wii Zapper for the TV below deck. You think _I_ did this?"

As everyone struggled to get back up onto their feet, Wario and Syrup both looked out to see where the cannonball came from.

What they saw shocked them.

On the opposite side of the S.S. Teacup was a _huge_ battleship. It was made of titanium and was armed to the teeth with turrets, cannons, and flamethrowers. Although it seemed to be powered by engines rather than wind, there was still a huge mast that hung a giant skull-and-crossbones... Except that the skull looked robotic and the crossbones were made up of two wrenches. Standing on the bow of the ship was a rather obese and very much robotic pirate, who glared at everyone below him with a sinister glare.

"Yar! There they be, boys!" he hollered in a full-blown pirate accent, "You know what you're all lookin' for, so get down there and retrieve it so we can send this ship to Davy Jones' Locker! Then they will know the true horror of the terrible _Captain Whisker_!"


End file.
